Singapore Begins Vaccinating Students to Combat Covid-19

KOMPAS.com - Singapore is moving to vaccinate students against Covid-19 after a spate of transmissions in schools and learning centers.

The city-state is among the first countries in the world to offer vaccines to teenagers before completing the inoculation of adults.

It comes as a sharp rise in coronavirus cases blamed on new variants in other South-East Asian countries prompts new restrictions, factory closures, and attempts to rapidly scale up vaccination programs across the region.

Only wealthy Singapore has comparable vaccination rates to Western countries, with more than 36 percent getting at least one injection, but the appearance of cases from new variants there also prompted new closures last month.

Also read: Singapore Mulls Reopening Borders by Year-End, Says Singapore PM 

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Monday, May 31 that efforts aimed at curbing coronavirus infections were working. As a result, he said, a ban on dining out and severe limits on social gatherings would be relaxed after June 13.

"Barring another super-spreader or big cluster, we should be on track to bring this outbreak under control," Lee said.

The government imposed tighter controls in May after dozens of local coronavirus cases were linked to malls, hospitals, and the airport.

There had been virtually none earlier in the year.

Nearly three-quarters of Singapore's 760,000 senior citizens have received at least one dose of the vaccine or booked their appointments.

Also read: Indonesia, Singapore Form Travel Bubble for Essential Trips amid Covid-19 Pandemic

Now the shots — which have been offered to those aged 40 and older — are being extended to students above the age of 12 from today.

Lee said health authorities would take advantage of the June school holidays to vaccinate students.

"After the students, we will vaccinate the final remaining group, young adults 39 years and younger," he said.

New variants wreak havoc