SINGAPORE — Seniors aged 60 and above as well as residents of aged-care facilities who have been fully vaccinated as of March this year will be invited to receive their booster vaccine shots from next Tuesday (Sept 14) onwards.

In a press release on Friday, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said that these two groups will receive their booster dose of a messenger ribonucleic accid (mRNA) vaccine as part of the vaccine booster programme. These are the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.

The programme was announced by the ministry earlier this month and involves giving booster shots to those aged 60 and above, residents of aged-care facilities and individuals who are moderately to severely immunocompromised.

This is to ensure that they are sufficiently protected from severe illness should they get infected.

There are about 900,000 seniors aged 60 and above eligible for booster shots.

Those aged 60 and above will receive an SMS on their phones, with a personalised booking link that will be sent to the mobile number that they had registered earlier when they took their first two doses. This will allow them to book a new appointment on www.vaccine.gov.sg.

Individuals who are moderately to severely immunocompromised and have completed their two doses of the vaccines are encouraged to receive a third dose of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine two months after their second dose, MOH said.

However, such individuals should consult their treating specialist before receiving their third dose, because the specialist will have the best understanding of their medical condition.

Eligible individuals may then receive the vaccination in a hospital or specialist outpatient clinic of their treating specialist, if these are offering vaccinations. 

They may also obtain a referral form completed by their treating specialist and go to any vaccination centre for their third dose.

For those who are not taking the two mRNA vaccines, Mr Ong gave an update on the stocks for the Sinovac vaccine. 

The roll-out of the inactivated virus vaccine through private healthcare institutions via a special access route came to a halt last month due to depleted stocks.

“Barring unforeseen circumstances, (a new stock of Sinovac vaccines) should arrive around Sept 20 and be available at some of these clinics a few days afterwards,” he said.

Around 1.5 per cent of Singapore’s population have received the Sinovac vaccine, he added.

TEST KITS DISTRIBUTED TO COMPANIES

MOH will also distribute antigen rapid test kits to employers from next week onwards so that their staff members can be regularly tested for the coronavirus.

This follows the Government’s announcement on Monday that workplaces not on mandatory rostered routine testing will have to carry out weekly testing for on-site staff members for two months, in a bid to slow down the recent surge in Covid-19 cases.

The ministry said that it will provide more details on the application process, the coverage and the delivery of kits soon.

It also encouraged Singaporeans to use antigen rapid test kits that are being distributed to all households by Sept 27 to test themselves before visiting crowded places, attending events or visiting vulnerable seniors, in order to keep the community safe.