• Eighty Home Team officers and 50 Ren Ci nursing home staff members were vaccinated against Covid-19
• The Ministry of Home Affairs expects a 94 per cent take-up rate among chosen Home Team officers 
• Ren Ci said that 80 per cent of its employees have agreed to get vaccinated
• Government’s Covid-19 vaccination committee aware of anti-vaccine messages spreading online
• A committee member said it is important to address concerns Singaporeans might have

SINGAPORE — The vaccination exercise against Covd-19 moved to two new groups of workers on Monday (Jan 11), those at the frontlines of the pandemic response and the community care sectors.

The first round of vaccinations began earlier on Dec 30, when about 40 healthcare workers in hospitals got their jabs.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday said that 80 of its Home Team officers involved in frontline healthcare operations were getting the Pfizer-BioNTech shot, the only vaccine that has been approved for use here so far. 

Over the coming weeks, close to 1,000 more Home Team officers, who are from the Emergency Medical Service of the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), and the Singapore Prison Service, will be progressively vaccinated. The exercise is expected to be completed in six weeks.

Warrant Officer 1 Mohamed Shafiee Jamin, 38, who was the first to receive the jab from the Home Team, said: “The vaccine gives me the assurance and peace of mind to safely carry out my frontline responder duties as a paramedic in the SCDF.”

An SCDF paramedic from Kallang Fire Station, he is involved in day-to-day medical emergencies and has responded to and taken suspected Covid-19 cases to hospitals.

He added that taking the vaccine is not only to safeguard himself but his patients, co-workers and loved ones. 

His wife, who is also an SCDF paramedic, received the vaccine on the same day. 

Lieutenant-Colonel Janice Oh, 42, who got her first dose of the vaccine, said that this provides SCDF’s emergency services personnel and the public with added protection against the coronavirus. 

The senior assistant director from SCDF’s Emergency Medical Service department is involved in the planning of policies and exercises for the team, including the Covid-19 response and vaccination exercise.

She added: “(We) will continue to attend to suspected Covid-19 cases in full personal protective equipment regardless of whether they have been vaccinated.”

MHA said that 1,123 Home Team officers have been identified for this round of the vaccination exercise. Of these, 1,055 individuals, or 94 per cent, have agreed to take the jab.

Two doses of the vaccine have to be taken three weeks apart from one another.

MOST REN CI EMPLOYEES TO TAKE VACCINE SHOT

Later in the day, 50 staff members from Ren Ci nursing home in Bukit Batok became some of the first workers in the community care sector to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.

Speaking to TODAY, Mr Joe Hau, chief executive officer of Ren Ci Hospital, said that 80 per cent of its employees have agreed to get vaccinated.

Among the remaining workers, Mr Hau said about 10 per cent of them have chosen to either postpone or not take the vaccine because they have severe allergies or are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Only a small minority of staff members, about 3 per cent, have chosen to hold off on getting the jab. 

As for how the organisation has been encouraging its employees to take the vaccine, Mr Hau said that it held a town hall last week to address the concerns and anxieties the staff members had about the vaccine.

The hospital’s management will keep communication channels open so that staff members may continue to ask any questions they have. 

Ren Ci will also be sharing the experiences of those who have already gotten the jab to encourage as high of a take-up rate as possible.

Mr Hau said: “The vaccine will definitely be a booster (to the other measures)... This is definitely another layer of protection for our staff who are working the frontline and looking after the vulnerable and the elderly.”

RELY ON TRUSTED SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, chief health scientist and a member of the Government’s 14-member Expert Committee on Covid-19 Vaccination, said that vaccination centres are being set up to inoculate the population at large. 

Prof Tan, who received his first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine at the National University Hospital on Monday, added that people who are more familiar with polyclinics, general practitioner clinics and the Public Health Preparedness Clinic scheme, especially senior citizens, can get vaccinated at these places.

Associate Professor Benjamin Ong, who chairs the vaccination committee and also got the first dose of the vaccine on Monday, warned the public against the spread of misleading anti-vaccine messages on WhatsApp and social media. 

In response to a question from TODAY, Assoc Prof Ong, who has received some of these messages himself, said: “A lot of it is based on misinformation and misunderstanding of how vaccines work.”

He advised people to rely on trusted sources such as the Ministry of Health’s website and mainstream news sites. 

Prof Tan said that education and information-sharing is important and so is addressing concerns that Singaporeans might have. 

The chief health scientist and a member of the vaccination committee, added that some people rely on the information they find on social media but may not fully understand the way that the vaccines — which use ribonucleic acid (RNA) technology — work. 

He added that there is a “very active” outreach programme to address these concerns. TODAY has reached out to MOH for comments on these programmes. 

Prof Tan stressed that approved vaccines have gone through rigorous scrutiny by regulatory bodies worldwide.

"I have been looking at vaccines from the early days since February and March, and tracking them quite closely. And I feel very confident that the trials have been done very rigorously, the data has been scrutinised by regulatory agencies in Singapore and rest of the world," he said.

Asked about the coronavirus variant identified in the United Kingdom, which is reportedly more infectious, Assoc Prof Ong pointed to a recent small-scale study to suggest that there is no loss of efficacy against the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. 

Still, he added that more research needs to be done.

Close to 120 healthcare workers across the National University Health System received their vaccination on Monday, as the healthcare group kicked off its vaccination exercise. 

Prof Tan from the vaccination committee, who will be returning in three weeks for the second dose of the vaccine, said it is imperative that people get their two doses.

“It's very important for everyone to understand that full protection only takes place if you have two doses, and not just one.”

He added that those who are getting their jabs can expect mild reactions such as pain at the injection site, a bit of swelling as well as fever.

“We have to be prepared when we get our first shot that there may be some minor symptoms they may last a day or two, so that we don't get put off from coming for a second shot.”