Singapore 'on track' to fully vaccinate 80% of its population by end-August: MOH

SINGAPORE: With 79 per cent of its total population fully vaccinated as of Thursday (Aug 26), Singapore is “on track” to meeting its 80 per cent target by the end of August, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Friday.

In a press release by the COVID-19 multi ministry task force, the ministry noted that there was an “uptick” in the number of COVID-19 cases in the past four days.

“As at Aug 26, the number of new local cases has increased from an average of 47.1 cases per day in the week before to 76.0 cases per day in the past week.

“Of the cases in the past week, 98.9 per cent were symptomatic or mildly symptomatic and did not need dedicated medical care,” said MOH, adding that the task force was watching the situation “closely”.

With nearly 80 per cent of the population fully vaccinated, the number of vaccinations per day has dropped “sharply” to less than a quarter of its peak, said MOH.

As such, it will close four mass vaccination centres: Bukit Timah Community Club, Kolam Ayer Community Club, Marsiling Community Club and Yuhua Community Club.

Marsiling Community Club and Kolam Ayer Community Club will no longer accept new bookings from Sep 2, while the remaining two will stop accepting new bookings from Sep 9.

Instead, MOH will increase the number of Public Health Preparedness Clinics administering COVID-19 vaccinations, from the current 65 to more than 80 clinics in September.

Singapore reported 112 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases on Thursday, with two new clusters linked to staff at Punggol and Toa Payoh bus interchanges and a cluster linked to a coffee shop in Bukit Panjang.