We continue to make steady progress with our national vaccination programme. As of 23 June, we have administered more than 5 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Around 3 million individuals have received at least the first dose of the vaccine, of whom about 2 million individuals have received their second dose and completed the full vaccination regimen.
2. The overall take-up rate has been encouraging. To date, about 75% of eligible seniors aged 60 years and above, 77% of eligible persons aged 45 to 59 years, and 70% of eligible persons aged 40 to 44 years have received the COVID-19 vaccination or booked their vaccination appointments. 39% of Singapore Citizens aged 12 to 39 years have also received vaccinations or booked their appointments.
Acceleration in our National Vaccination Programme
3. From this weekend, 26 June 2021, onwards, we will accelerate our national vaccination programme, as we have been able to bring forward the delivery of our vaccine supplies. Under the accelerated programme, we will be able to administer up to 80,000 daily doses, up from 47,000 today and around 40,000 in May 2021. We expect to add another 500,000 new first dose appointments in the next few days for slots from now till mid-July, with more additional slots in the subsequent weeks.
4. Our national vaccination programme was opened for Singapore Citizens aged 12 to 39 years from 10 June 2021, with a two-week priority window for those from this group who had registered to make their vaccination appointments. We will be extending this priority window by one week till 1 July 2021 to allow more time for individuals who register to book slots and receive an earlier vaccination appointment from the additional slots to be opened soon. We therefore encourage those individuals in this group who have not yet registered to do so by 1 July 2021 to enjoy priority for booking a vaccination slot.
5. Individuals who have already booked a slot for their first dose and have appointments in mid-to-end July 2021 are also encouraged to bring forward their appointments, so that they can protect themselves and their loved ones sooner. Eligible individuals who have registered for vaccination and yet to receive a booking link can expect to receive a SMS with a personalised booking link to make an appointment within the next week.
6. From 2 July 2021, we will be extending the national vaccination programme to the rest of the population, including all Permanent Residents and long-term pass holders in Singapore aged 12 to 39 years. These individuals can register interest for vaccination and will be progressively invited to book their vaccination appointments from 2 July 2021 via a SMS with a personalised booking link sent to the mobile number they registered with.
7. If supplies continue to arrive as planned, we will be able to substantially cover most of our population with a first dose sometime in July, and would have achieved our objective of giving as many people as possible some protection. We will therefore also review the current dose interval of six to eight weeks with a view to shorten it to four weeks. This will allow more of our population to complete their vaccination with two doses and receive maximum protection sooner. More details will be announced when ready.
Keeping Our Community Safe
8. Vaccination remains a key enabler and its ability to help Singapore re-open safely can only be felt when we can collectively achieve a high level of population coverage for vaccination. We encourage all to register their interest via vaccine.gov.sg and book their appointments and get vaccinated when they are offered.
MINISTRY OF HEALTH
24 JUNE 2021