SINGAPORE – Starting next Monday (Nov. 7), other eligible seniors aged 18 to 49 will be asked to get their bivalent booster shot.
People in quarantine will be asked to register first to receive the dose of bivalent vaccine via SMS with a personalized booking link to make an appointment at one of the joint detection and vaccination centers, the Ministry of Health (MINSA) said on a Friday.
Younger teams will get their booking links a little later.
People aged 18 to 49 are the latest organizations to be asked to take the bivalent vaccine amid the ongoing outbreak of Omicron XBB variant infection. The Health Ministry added that the existing wave is fading.
The Ministry of Health has warned that there are now several subvariants circulating globally and that new variants may also be formed.
With the resumption, a new highly transmissible variant can enter and spread in Singapore without warning, he added.
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“It is now even more vital that we protect our defences against any long-term developments of the Covid-19 virus, and that we prepare in advance to react temporarily if necessary.
“We appreciate your patience and understanding that SMS may take a few weeks to succeed at all,” the ministry said.
The bivalent edition of Moderna’s Spikevax vaccine targets the Sars-CoV-2 strain of the virus and the Omicron variant.
With the extension of the bivalent vaccine to younger age groups, everyone else over the age of 18 is reminded to keep up with their vaccinations.
This means that those who gained their last injections more than five months ago take the extra bivalent dose.
This would be their fourth or fifth Covid-19 vaccine, depending on the vaccines they choose.
The minimum coverage for those who have taken the mRNA or Nuvaxovid vaccine will be 3 doses, and 4 for those who have opted for Sinovac-CoronaVac.
The Ministry of Health has defined three lines of defense against the virus: staying abreast of vaccinations, conducting normal self-assessments, and practicing private and social duty by maintaining personal hygiene.
As reinfections are no longer unusual now, other people experiencing symptoms such as cough, sore throat, runny nose or fever 28 days after their previous infection should also be monitored for Covid-19.
To inspire more self-monitoring, the family will obtain 12 Immediate Antigen Control (ART) kits starting Nov. 21, in a fourth circular of national distributions of ART kits.
“Since it is the peak holiday season and there is a high volume of ART kits delivered, we need to make the public perceive that some families may get the kits later than others,” the Health Ministry said.
In addition, those who test negative but do not feel well are asked to decrease social interactions, since their illness is possibly due to other respiratory viruses such as influenza.
For others 12 and older, Pfizer-BioNTech’s bivalent Covid-19 vaccine was approved for local use last month.
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In an update Friday, the Health Ministry said materials from those vaccines are expected to arrive by the end of the year.
More main points will be shared later.
As of Wednesday, more than 65,000 more people, in addition to physical care staff and others over the age of 50, gained the dose of the bivalent vaccine or scheduled an appointment, the ministry added.
The bivalent dose has been given to other people over 50 since October.
For overcrowding in vaccination centers, walk-ins are only allowed for older teams and health workers.
Those who have won 3 doses of Sinovac-CoronaVac are also asked to take their fourth dose of vaccine, which acts as a booster, if they have already done so.
Starting Oct. 7, other people 18 and older can take the fourth dose without needing medical evidence of ineligibility for mRNA or Novavax/Nuvaxovid vaccines.
Support will also be provided to low-income families and academics who want more ART kits.
Beneficiaries of social care offices and family circle care centres can continue to order more ART kits from these centres and offices.
Students from low-income families will also get more ART kits. More data will be shared with academics and parents at a later date, the fitness ministry said.
“As new variants of covid-19 continue to emerge, we urge those who are eligible to take the bivalent vaccine as an additional dose of vaccine, so that they continue to have smart coverage against covid-19,” the Ministry of Health said.
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission is required for reproduction.