Singapore has continued to make steady progress with its vaccination programme ever since vaccinations for healthcare workers started on December 30, 2020. Healthcare workers, as well as those working in the aviation and maritime sectors, were prioritised as they are at high risk of being infected by the coronavirus.
As of 17 May, more than 3.4 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine were administered, with close to two million individuals who have received at least the first dose of the vaccine, according to Gov.sg.
To date, about 71 per cent of eligible seniors aged 60 and above, and close to 66 per cent of eligible persons aged 45 to 59 years old have received the Covid-19 vaccination or booked their vaccination appointments.
Last month, Singapore took the step of tightening its restrictions on movements and activities from May 16 until June 13 due to the surge in community cases. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made a national address on May 31 to highlight how Singapore has coped with the latest surge and acknowledged that the country “should be on track” to bringing its Covid-19 outbreak under control.
Ever since the Government announced that the first batch of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine had arrived in the country, there were several measures put in place for the vaccination process to begin promptly and progressively.
All Singaporeans and long-term residents in Singapore will be able to be vaccinated by end-2021, for free.