Walk-ins for Moderna booster shots start on Monday for those aged 30 and above
SINGAPORE — From Monday (1 November), all Singaporeans, permanent residents and long-term pass holders aged 30 years and above can walk in to any of the nine centres offering the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to take their booster shots, without prior appointment.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a media release on Saturday that, as there is no need for persons to receive the same vaccine for their booster shot as they had received for their previous two doses, this latest measure is open to all persons who had completed their first two doses with either the Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty or Moderna vaccine at least six months ago.
The vaccination centres offering the Moderna vaccine are: Buona Vista Community Club (CC), Hong Kah North CC, Kebun Baru CC, Potong Pasir CC, Punggol 21 CC, Radin Mas CC, Tampines East CC, Woodlands CC and Yew Tee CC.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Manpower will also schedule booster vaccination of all dormitory dwelling migrant workers and non-dormitory-dwelling workers in the construction, marine, processing sector.
Appointment booking for Sinovac vaccine begins
Those who wish to take the Sinovac-CoronaVac vaccine can begin making their appointment from Saturday. They must be aged 18 years and above, and are unable to be vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna mRNA vaccines.
Once registered, an SMS with a personalised booking link will be sent to the mobile number used to register interest, and individuals may use the link to make an appointment at the vaccination centre at Raffles City Convention Centre or at any of the 11 public health preparedness clinics offering Sinovac.
Those who have previously taken at least one dose of the Sinovac vaccine at authorised private clinics can continue to take the remaining doses at those clinics. They can book their remaining appointments from Monday.
Seniors aged 60 years and above may also walk into the vaccination centre at Raffle City Convention Centre to receive their Sinovac doses from Sunday, without the need to register for interest or make an appointment.
Booster shots reduce risk of infection by at least 70 per cent
As of Wednesday, among those invited to take boosters, 80.2 per cent of those aged 60 years and above, 92.7 per cent of those aged 50 to 59 years, and 75.1 per cent of those aged 30 to 49 years have received their booster dose or booked an appointment.
Tracking 685,083 fully-vaccinated seniors above 60 years old between 15 September and 22 October, MOH studied the COVID-19 positive infection rates of those who have received their booster doses against fully-vaccinated individuals who have not yet received their booster doses.
The ministry found that booster doses reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection by about an additional 70 per cent, and the risk of severe infections by another 90 per cent, compared to those who have received only two doses of vaccines.
Comparing individuals who are fully vaccinated and boosted against unvaccinated individuals, MOH said that estimates are that the fully-vaccinated and boosted individuals benefit from vaccine effectiveness of about 80 per cent or more against COVID-19 infection, and about 99 per cent against severe illness.
Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore
