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The Ministry of Health in Singapore reported in its Nov. 30, 2021 daily update that it has completed a periodic update of the country's total population numbers.

According to MOH, Singapore's population has decreased slightly, and the change is significant enough to alter the vaccination rates of both the eligible and total populations.

MOH said the fall stems from individuals who have passed on or returned to their home countries, which have outnumbered newborns and inflows.

The vaccinated coverage has been adjusted accordingly as a result of this development.

Vaccination rate adjusted upwards

As of Nov. 29, taking into account a smaller population, the updated total number of individuals who have completed their full regimen/ received two doses of Covid-19 vaccines is 96 per cent -- adjusted from 94 per cent of the eligible population.

The vaccination rate of the total population has also been adjusted to 86 per cent from 85 per cent.

As a percentage of total population, 87 per cent has received at least one dose, and 26 per cent has received their booster shots.

Eligible population vs Total population

Earlier, on Nov. 15, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung addressed a host of statistical questions during a virtual press conference highlighting how some countries report vaccine coverage against the eligible population, whereas Singapore reports vaccine coverage against the total population.

Singapore's reported vaccine coverage of 85 per cent, as mentioned then, appears to be lower than the reported figures in some other countries, which can be as high as 90 per cent or more.

Ong explained that this is due to Singapore reporting vaccine coverage against the total population, instead of eligible population, which is smaller as it excludes individuals such as children.

Ong explained at that time: "So, if we recalculate this based on eligible population, we are around 94 per cent vaccinated. It is one of the highest coverages in the world."

"MOH will provide both figures henceforth in our daily press release to give a fuller picture of the progress of our vaccination exercise," he added.

Bumped up to 96 per cent, this vaccination rate of Singapore's eligible population is higher than before and remains one of the highest in the world.

Top photo via Unsplash

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