SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Friday (Aug 27) that Singapore is on track to meet its target of getting 80 per cent of the total population fully vaccinated by the end of August.

Given this level of vaccination, the authorities will close four of its mass vaccination centres by the end of September.

In a media release, MOH said that the country’s voluntary national vaccination programme has “made good progress”, with 79 per cent of the total population fully vaccinated as of Thursday.

The ministry noted, however, that there has been an uptick in the number of Covid-19 cases in the last 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,” MOH said.

It added that of the cases in the past week, 98.9 per cent were asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic and did not need dedicated medical care.

MOH stressed that the multi-ministry task force in charge of handling the Covid-19 pandemic here is “watching the situation closely” to ensure that the number of coronavirus cases with severe symptoms remain under control and “do not strain our healthcare system”.

“We urge Singaporeans to self-regulate your social activities to help reduce potential transmission, conduct self-tests to monitor your own health, and to seek medical care early if you are exhibiting symptoms of acute respiratory infection, however minor,” the ministry said.

CLOSURE OF FOUR VACCINATION CENTRES

The four mass vaccination centres that will be closed by the end of September are those located at:

• Bukit Timah Community Club

• Kolam Ayer Community Club

• Marsiling Community Club

• Yuhua Community Club

New bookings for Marsiling and Kolam Ayer community clubs will stop from Sept 2 while those at Bukit Timah and Yuhua will cease a week later on Sept 9.

The ministry said that with almost 80 per cent of the population fully vaccinated, the number of vaccinations each day “has dropped sharply to less than a quarter of its peak”.

MOH will shift more of its vaccination operations to Public Health Preparedness Clinics (PHPCs) as well as mobile and home vaccination teams for seniors.

“We will increase the number of PHPCs administering Covid-19 vaccinations from the 65 clinics today to more than 80 clinics in September,” it said.

PHPCs are activated during public health emergencies to administer vaccinations and povide subsidised treatments, among other roles.