In an interview with Singapore Press Holdings’ (SPH) radio station Kiss92 FM yesterday (16 Aug), Health Minister Ong Ye Kung told the audience that Singapore is the most vaccinated country in the world.
“I think we might well be the most vaccinated country in the world,” he said.
For the Singapore’s elderly, 85 per cent of those aged 70 and above have received at least one shot of a vaccine, he revealed.
The vaccination rate for the next oldest group – aged 60 to 69 – is even higher, at more than 90 per cent, he added.
Overall, as at last Saturday (14 Aug), about 75 percent of Singapore’s population had been fully vaccinated. He continued to urge people to get vaccinated.
As for the third booster shot, he said that Singaporeans may get it within a year. “Maybe within a year, you may have a third shot,” he said.
With regard to China’s Sinovac vaccine, Ong said that it may be slightly less effective at protecting a person against infection, but it is very effective at preventing severe illness.
“There are lots of views on Sinovac, but we go with the science. And the science is that so far, we have not seen very robust data on Sinovac’s effectiveness against Delta,” he cautioned.
As for those who cannot be vaccinated for whatever reasons, he advised, “You will just have to wait for the rest to be vaccinated. When the people around you are vaccinated, you are protected.”
According to the Health Sciences Authority (HSA), a total of 47 “adverse events” have been reported from more than 104,000 doses of the Sinovac vaccine that have been administered in Singapore as of 31 July. This works out to be 0.045 per cent of the administered doses.
Four out of the 47 adverse events were said to be “serious”. They included one report each of Bell’s palsy, a condition that causes temporary weakness or paralysis of the facial muscles, anaphylaxis or the rapid onset of severe allergic reactions, vertigo with ringing of the ears, and serious allergic reactions, HSA said.
With regard to Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, a total of 9,403 “adverse events” out of 7,567,466 doses have been reported as of 31 July. This works out to be 0.12 per cent of the administered doses.
