Covid-19 vaccine booster shots for healthcare and frontline workers, residents of care facilities, those aged 30 and above

SINGAPORE — From Saturday (Oct 9), Covid-19 vaccine booster shots will be extended to those aged 30 and above, healthcare and front-line workers as well as those in institutionalised settings such as prisons and residential care facilities.

The move comes after the Ministry of Health (MOH) accepted the recommendations by the expert committee on Covid-19 vaccination to extend booster jabs of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccines to these groups. Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are the two mRNA vaccines administered under the national vaccination programme.

To be eligible for the booster jabs, individuals must have completed their first two doses at least six months before.

Explaining its decision to accept the recommendation, MOH said in a statement on Saturday that healthcare and front-line workers are more likely to come into regular contact with Covid-19 cases and are at greater risk of infection.

People and staff members in institutionalised settings such as prisons and residential settings live in indoor settings of increased human density. This makes them predisposed to large outbreaks of Covid-19, the ministry said.

“Expanding the booster programme to persons aged 30 and above will also help to raise the overall level of protection in the population.” 

From Saturday, booster vaccinations will be offered to healthcare workers and front-line Covid-19 workers who have completed two doses of their vaccination regimen around six months ago.

The ministry said that it is working with various institutions to progressively roll out booster shots to those who are eligible in institutionalised settings.

Those aged 30 and above who completed their full vaccination regime around six months ago will also be progressively invited from Saturday onwards to make appointments for their booster doses. 

They will receive an SMS with a personalised booking link to the mobile phone number that they had used earlier to register for their first two doses. 

With the link, they can book an appointment to receive their jab at www.vaccine.gov.sg.

MOH said that as of last Thursday, almost 372,000 people including those aged 50 and above have received their booster doses.

It added that 57 per cent of people aged between 50 and 59 and 72 per cent of people aged 60 years old and above who are eligible for the vaccine booster have either booked an appointment or received their booster doses as of Saturday.