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Covid-19 vaccinations for seniors will begin islandwide next Monday (Feb. 22).
Seniors aged 70 years and above are expected to be able to receive their vaccinations by mid-March, following which seniors between the age of 60 and 69 will begin being vaccinated.
Seniors will begin receiving personalised letters
In a press release on Feb. 19, the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced that over the next three weeks, seniors who are 70 years old or above will receive personalised letters inviting them to sign up for vaccination.
Seniors living near polyclinics or vaccination centres will be invited first, so that they can be conveniently vaccinated at a vaccination site near their home, said MOH.
By mid-March, when MOH will have opened a vaccination centre in each town, all seniors will be able to receive their vaccination.
All letters should reach this group of seniors by the first week of March.
After that, MOH will move on to vaccinating seniors between the ages of 60 and 69.
This group of seniors will receive their invitations letters around the middle of March, and will begin being vaccinated starting from around end-March.
As the invitation letters will be mailed based on official residential addresses, seniors are encouraged to update their residential address using the change of address e-service via the relevant government websites, so that letters will be delivered to their place of residence.
For Singaporeans and permanent residents (PRs), they can use the "Online Change of Address" e-Service here.
For ICA-issued Long-Term Visit Pass holders, local sponsors can access the e-Update of Address eService on the ICA website here.
And MOM-issued Work Pass holders and their family on Dependant’s Pass or Long-Term Visit Pass can update their addresses on the MOM website here.
Register online for vaccinations
After receiving the invitation letter, seniors can register online for their vaccinations at vaccine.gov.sg.
Once registered, seniors will then receive an SMS with a unique link for them to book their vaccination appointments.
Seniors will be able to schedule their vaccinations at any of the vaccination centres, 20 polyclinics, or 22 Public Health Preparedness Clinics (PHPCs).
Seniors who need help booking their vaccination appointments can bring their invitation letter to any community centre or club from Feb. 19, where staff members will be available to assist them.
Community volunteers from People's Association and Silver Generation Ambassadors will also be conducting house visits and tapping on grassroots events to help seniors with their appointment booking and answer their questions.
In order to reach out to seniors who may find it challenging to visit a vaccination site in person due to mobility issues, MOH said that they will work with the relevant agencies to deploy mobile vaccination teams to carry out vaccinations for these individuals.
31 vaccination centres set up by Mid-March
In order to ensure that seniors can conveniently receive their vaccinations, MOH will set up more vaccination centres in the coming weeks.
Currently, there are 11 vaccination centres in operation:
- Bishan Community Club
- Canberra Community Club
- Changi Airport Terminal 4
- Former Hong Kah Secondary School
- Jalan Besar Community Club
- Raffles City Convention Centre
- Senja-Cashew Community Club
- The Serangoon (Community Club)
- Tanjong Pagar Community Club
- Teck Ghee Community Club
- Woodlands Galaxy Community Club
Three more vaccination centres located at community centres or clubs will commence operations by Feb. 22, at Bukit Timah, Marine Parade and Taman Jurong, bringing the total to 14.
By the middle of March, 31 vaccination centres will be in operation, with at least one vaccination centre in each town.
In total, there will eventually be around 40 vaccination centres, with each vaccination centre planned for an estimated capacity of 2,000 vaccinations per day.
These centres, together with the polyclinics and selected PHPCs, will ensure that every Singaporean and long-term resident in Singapore who is medically eligible can receive their vaccinations conveniently.
"While Covid-19 vaccination will be voluntary, we strongly encourage Singaporeans and long-term residents who are medically eligible to come forward for vaccination when their turn comes, so that as a society, we can keep each other safe from the disease," wrote MOH.
110,000 people have gotten both doses of vaccine
As of Feb. 18, about 250,000 individuals have received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Amongst them, more than 110,000 have also received their second dose of the vaccine, and completed the full vaccination regimen.
The pilot for vaccinations for seniors aged 70 years and above commenced on Jan. 27 for seniors living in Ang Mo Kio and Tanjong Pagar.
Over 5,000 seniors from both towns have received their vaccinations as of Feb. 18. These seniors are scheduled to receive their second dose from Feb. 17 onwards, and in two weeks, they will be adequately protected against Covid-19, said MOH.
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Top photo via Ministry of Health.