SINGAPORE, January 29 — More than 113,000 people have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in an update on Thursday (Jan 28).
More than 50 have also received their second dose and completed the full vaccination regimen.
The numbers are expected to go up in the coming weeks as vaccination operations continue, MOH said.
Polyclinics and selected Public Health Preparedness Clinics (PHPCs) will also serve as vaccination sites. Seniors can currently be vaccinated at nine polyclinics and 21 PHPCs.
From next Monday, all 20 polyclinics across Singapore will also begin offering COVID-19 vaccinations, MOH said.
Vaccinations for senior citizens aged 70 and above began on Wednesday at Ang Mo Kio and Tanjong Pagar.
More than 250 were vaccinated on the first day, MOH said.
Sign-ups for COVID-19 vaccination by seniors have been encouraging, the ministry said, adding that it expects more seniors to sign up in the coming days.
“As of Jan 27, we have sent personalised letters to more than 10,000 seniors in Ang Mo Kio and Tanjong Pagar, and more than one third of them have booked their appointments within two days of receiving the invitation,” MOH said.
“The remaining seniors in these areas will receive their invitation letters in the coming week.”
These letters will be progressively sent out to seniors across Singapore from mid-February.
To ensure seniors can conveniently receive their required jabs, more vaccination centres will be set up over the next few weeks. These will be located in “high population catchment areas and/or along major public transport routes for greater accessibility”.
“In total, there will be around 40 vaccination centres, with each vaccination centre planned for an estimated capacity of 2,000 vaccinations per day,” the ministry said.
MOH, HSA MONITORING VACCINE SAFETY
MOH and Health Sciences Authority (HSA) said they were closely monitoring the safety profile of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine as it is being administered to our population.
“Among the more than 113,000 individuals who have received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, HSA has received 432 adverse event reports from healthcare professionals as of 27 January 2021,” said MOH.
“Most of these reports were for regular symptoms such as injection site pain and swelling, fever, headache, fatigue, body aches, giddiness, nausea and allergic reactions (such as itch, rash, swelling of eyes or lip). These symptoms are reactions generally associated with all vaccinations and they generally resolved on their own within a few days.”
MOH also added there were three reported cases of anaphylaxis among those who received the COVID-19 vaccine.
The instances of anaphylaxis – or rapid onset of severe allergic reactions – were quickly resolved by healthcare professionals.
“The individuals, in their 20s and 30s, developed multiple symptoms such as rash, breathlessness, lip swelling, throat tightness and giddiness,” said MOH.
“All three individuals had a history of allergies, including allergic rhinitis and food allergy such as to shellfish, but none had a history of anaphylaxis which would have precluded them from receiving the vaccine.” — CNA
