Singapore will expand its vaccination drive to all Singapore citizens aged 12 to 39 from June 11. They can register on the vaccine.gov.sg website from the same day, and book an appointment from June 11 onwards.
The Health Ministry says that after registration, registrants will be progressively invited to book their vaccination appointments via an SMS with a personalised booking link sent to the mobile number they registered with.
Registrants can expect to receive this SMS a few days after registration. However, they added the SMS may take up to two weeks for some, as more appointment slots for vaccination will be made available as more supplies arrive.
Speaking at a press conference of Singapore’s Multi-Ministry Task Force (MTF), Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said that those who opt for the Moderna shot may be able to get earlier slots, as the Pfizer-BioNTech shot is currently also being administered to students from 12 to 18 years old.
The Health Ministry also has recommended that individuals who have recovered from an earlier Covid-19 infection, are recommended to receive a single dose of the vaccine, as there is evidence indicating that a single dose would further boost their immunity against Covid-19.
Separately, as part of the country’s strategy to test widely for Covid-19, the Health Sciences Authority has granted interim authorisation for four rapid antigen test kits to be sold to the public.
MOH said these tests “produce results in less than 20 minutes, are simple to use and can be self-administered”. These kits will be sold by pharmacists in the Guardian, Unity, and Watsons retail pharmacies from 16 June, and will be made available at more retail locations progressively.
To ensure supplies for all, the purchase of these kits will initially be limited to 10 per person.
However, Singapore Director of Medical Services Kenneth Mak said that individuals who have acute respiratory symptoms, including cough, sore throat and runny nose, should continue to visit a doctor for a full diagnosis and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test instead of relying on an ART self-test kit.
He added individuals who have a positive result for their ART self-test should immediately approach a Swab and Send Home Public Health Preparedness Clinic (SASH PHPC) for a confirmatory PCR test.
They are then required to self-isolate until they receive a negative PCR test result.
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