Singapore: Starting from Saturday (October 30), individuals can make appointments for Sinovac-CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccination at the Raffles City Convention Center. From Sunday, senior citizens can enter without an appointment.

The ministry said in a press release on Saturday: “This will greatly expand the capacity of private clinics and public medical institutions that manage Sinovac-CoronaVac vaccine on behalf of the Ministry of Health (MOH).”

Last week, the COVID-19 multi-ministerial working group announced that the Sinovac vaccine will be included in the national vaccination plan.

Those who have not been vaccinated at all can register their interest from Saturday, while those who have received at least one dose of Sinovac vaccine can complete their three-dose program at any authorized private clinic. If they have not done so, they can book the remaining appointments from Monday.

The Ministry of Health stated that those who cannot receive or complete the mRNA vaccination due to medical reasons are “encouraged to receive Sinovac-CoronaVac”.

WALK-IN FOR MODERNA BOOSTER
In a press release on Saturday, the Ministry of Health also announced that starting Monday, people 30 years and older will be able to go to any of the nine Moderna vaccination centers to receive booster doses.

Those who can walk in are Singaporeans, permanent residents, and long-term pass holders aged 30 and above who completed the second dose six months ago.

It is recommended that people who receive the booster dose do not need to receive the same vaccine as the first two doses, which means that people who have received the Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty vaccine can receive the Moderna vaccine for the third dose.

The Ministry of Health said: “We encourage all eligible people who have not taken the booster dose to come forward. As we coexist with COVID-19, this is the best protection for you and your loved ones.”

Among the nine vaccination centers that provide Moderna vaccines are community clubs in Buona Vista, Hong Kah, Kebun Baru and Potong Pasir.

Punggol 21 Community Club and Radin Mas, Tampines East, Woodlands and Yew Tee community clubs also provide this service.

The Ministry of Manpower will arrange for all migrant workers living in dormitories and workers in the construction, marine and processing sectors to be vaccinated.

MOH STUDY ON BOOSTER EFFECTIVENESS
The Ministry of Health stated that since the start of the booster program on September 14, the authorities have seen “people who are eligible to receive the booster dose receive the booster dose healthily.”

As of October 27, among the people who were invited to vaccinate booster, 80.2% of people aged 60 and over, 92.7% of people aged 50 to 59, and 75.1% of people aged 30 to 49 had received booster. Agent or appointment.

The Ministry of Health stated: “The Ministry of Health has studied the positive rates of COVID-19 infection between individuals who have received a booster dose and individuals who have not yet received a booster dose of fully vaccinated.”

The study found that the enhanced dose “can further reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection by 70% and the risk of severe infection by 90%.”

In addition, for people receiving two doses of the vaccine, the vaccine is 40% to 60% effective against infections and more than 90% effective against serious diseases.

“Therefore, in addition to the protection against COVID-19 that the two doses of the mRNA vaccine already provide, the booster also provides significant protection,” the Ministry of Health said.

According to the Ministry of Health, compared with unvaccinated individuals, those who are fully vaccinated and boosted can benefit from the effectiveness of the vaccine against COVID-19 infection by 80% or more, which is approximately 99%.

In the study conducted between September 15 and October 22, more than 685,000 fully vaccinated seniors over the age of 60 were eligible to receive booster doses.

Singapore: Through a program of the Health Promotion Board (HPB), more than 2,000 elderly people have been successfully recommended to receive the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

An HPB spokesperson told CNA on Friday (October 29) that more than 1,740 of them had completed their vaccination.

According to the plan, those who recommend COVID-19 vaccination for seniors 60 years and older who have not been vaccinated will receive an electronic voucher of S$30.

In response to inquiries about the implementation of the plan, the spokesperson said that once HPB can verify that the elderly have been fully vaccinated, vouchers will be issued to recommenders.

According to the HealthHub website, the “Let our seniors get vaccinated” program was launched on August 13 and will last until November 30.

HPB stated that as of October 28, a total of 1,514 e-vouchers had been issued. The spokesperson added that most elderly people are introduced by their immediate family members, while other elderly people are introduced by relatives, friends and neighbors.

Vouchers can be used for companies participating in the HPB rewards program, including FairPrice, Cathay Cinema, Sakae Sushi and LiHo Tea.

The spokesperson added that the adoption was “very positive and encouraging.”

She said: “We hope that through this program, with the care and support of the recommender, we can encourage more elderly people to get vaccinated, so as to better protect themselves and take care of their health.”

Vouchers are used to “cover costs”
The Ministry of Health (MOH) said in its September written response to parliamentary questions whether the voucher discriminates against those who persuade their older parents to get vaccinated earlier. The Ministry of Health (MOH) stated that each referrer will receive S$30 Vouchers to cover the costs involved and provide support to the elderly during the entire vaccination process, such as accompany the elderly to the vaccination center.

It pointed out that in the initial stage of the vaccination program, many elderly people took the initiative to vaccinate.

“However, as we obtain a higher vaccination rate, the elderly who have not yet been vaccinated need further persuasion and assurance,” the ministry said.

Liang Henan, an infectious disease expert at Elizabeth Novena Hospital, said these measures are helpful.

He said: “Any measure, any measure, even if I can get a person to get more vaccines, it will help the hospital.”

He said that vaccinated elderly people are more likely to recover than people of similar age who have not been vaccinated, and emphasized that vaccinations will save intensive care resources.

According to the latest data on vaccinations for the elderly provided by the second minister of the Ministry of Health Masagos Zulkifli on October 25, 87% of the elderly over the age of 70 have been vaccinated.

The need for vaccination
The government has repeatedly emphasized that the elderly need to be vaccinated because they face a higher risk of serious illness if they contract COVID-19.

Associate Professor McKennis, director of medical services at the Ministry of Health, said at a press conference last Saturday that due to age and chronic diseases, the elderly are at higher risk of requiring intensive care or death.

He said that the risk of unvaccinated elderly people requiring intensive care or dying over the age of 80 is 21.7%, compared with 3% in the vaccinated group.

Associate Professor Mai added that the risk of supplemental oxygen for people over 80 who have not been vaccinated is 52.7%, compared with 13% for the vaccinated group.

He said that young people aged 60 to 69 are also at higher risk. The risk of unvaccinated people requiring intensive care or death was 27.8%, while the risk of the vaccinated group was 2.1%.

The Ministry of Health also stated that unvaccinated seniors, who make up about 1.5% of the total population, account for two-thirds of COVID-19 deaths and intensive care unit (ICU) cases.

According to the latest data from the Ministry of Health, as of Wednesday, 84% of the population had received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 85% of the population had received at least one dose.

The government also encourages older people to get booster shots—eligible seniors aged 60 and over can go to vaccination centers for vaccination without making an appointment.

Singapore: The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said on Saturday (October 30) that it is taking new measures to help ease manpower challenges in the construction, shipyard and processing sectors.

Currently, prospective employers can hire work permit holders without the consent of the original employer within 21 to 40 days before the expiration of the worker permit.

The ministry stated that looking forward to the future, migrant workers will continue to be employed by their original employers until their work permit expires.

After that, they can extend the work permit for 30 days, subject to mutual agreement between the worker and his employer.

Work permit holders can use this time to find other employers without having to obtain the consent of the original employer.

The ministry stated that at the same time, employers can keep workers for up to 30 days.

“If the worker or the employer does not agree to extend the work permit for 30 days, the worker will participate in the retention program, and the industry association will promote job matching with the new employer within 30 days,” the Ministry of Manpower said.

This will be implemented first in the construction on November 8, followed by the shipyard and processing department. MOM said these associations will share more details when they are ready.

Last month, the government and the Singapore Association of Contractors Pte Ltd (SCAL) launched a retention program to retain experienced construction work permit holders who had previously been terminated.

For those workers who wish to continue working in Singapore, SCAL will facilitate the job matching between them and employers who need additional manpower, and will conduct mediation to ensure a transparent and favorable transfer process for both parties.

MOM stated that 52 companies have benefited from the program so far, adding that due to COVID-19 border controls, the inflow of new workers has been restricted, which has helped alleviate the outflow of construction workers.

The plan will continue until February 28 next year and is subject to further review.

On Saturday, the Ministry of Manpower has cooperated with the Singapore Marine Industry Association and the Processing Industry Association to extend the retention program to shipyards and processing industries. Details will be shared later.