Vaccination exercise for seniors kicks off at Ang Mo Kio, Tanjong Pagar; almost 100,000 people in S'pore have had jab so far

• Operations ran smoothly when TODAY visited both vaccination centres
• A total of 500 people registered to get the jab at the two centres on Wednesday
• Most seniors showed up with an appointment booked
• Seniors said they got inoculated to protect themselves and family
• Some seniors in the two areas without appointments are taking a “wait-and-see” approach due to fears of side effects

SINGAPORE — The Covid-19 vaccination exercise for seniors kicked off on Wednesday (Jan 27) in Ang Mo Kio and Tanjong Pagar, as the number of people to receive the vaccination since the programme was rolled out in December approaches 100,000.

Sharing the figure during a visit to Ang Mo Kio Polyclinic, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he was happy to see people taking the vaccination exercise seriously and hopes more Singaporeans will come forward and get vaccinated when their turn comes.

“So far nearly 100,000 people have been inoculated, so the scale (of the exercise) is quite large,” he said in Mandarin.

TODAY understands that most of the 100,000 have received the first jab, while a small number have also received the second. The two required doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are given 21 days apart.

A total of 500 seniors registered at both Ang Mo Kio Polyclinic and Tanjong Pagar Community Club (CC) to get the jab on the first day of the pilot scheme for seniors.

Both venues were buzzing with seniors who started streaming in as early as 9am on the first day of the vaccination exercise. Registration opened at 10am at Tanjong Pagar CC and at 8am at Ang Mo Kio Polyclinic.

Most of the seniors had an appointment booked and arrived at the vaccination centres shortly before their designated time.

Ang Mo Kio resident Soh Woo Soon, 78, received his letter to get vaccinated last Thursday.

Speaking to TODAY in Mandarin, the former dishwasher, who lives alone and has no dependants, felt he had to get vaccinated to safeguard his own health, as he would have no one to take care of him if he falls ill.

Teck Ghee resident Ho Hoon Kwan, 73, also took the jab to protect himself as well as his loved ones from the coronavirus. He has been waiting for the vaccine to come to Singapore and booked an appointment as soon as he could.

The retiree said the process at Ang Mo Kio Polyclinic was quick. He also did not feel any side effects after getting the jab, a point that he plans to make to his wife who has held back from getting vaccinated due to fears of side effects.

Operations also ran smoothly at Tanjong Pagar CC and seniors were ushered into its multi-purpose hall quickly.

Madam Kartar Kaur, 71, and her husband Charan Singh, 87, told TODAY they took a chance and walked in without an appointment as they felt they could not wait any longer to get inoculated.

Mdm Kaur, who works in a welfare organisation and often interacts with seniors at her workplace, said the couple initially had reservations about getting vaccinated as she is allergic to the antibiotic penicillin, and both she and her husband have heart conditions.

But the consultation with a medical practitioner before the jab, which took less than 10 minutes, alleviated their concerns.

“I told the (medical practitioner) my entire medical history and even showed her the prescriptions I’m currently taking. I was relieved when she assured me that it’s okay to take the jab,” she said, adding that the process was smooth overall.

Retiree Patricia Leow, 70, said she would not have signed up for her first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine had she not been approached earlier this week by a volunteer, who told her about the vaccination process and offered to book her an appointment.

To reach out to the population, the People’s Association is working with the Health Ministry to mobilise volunteers to go on house visits or organise information sessions on the vaccination at places such as the Residents’ Committees or the void decks of public housing blocks.

Ms Leow, who has no children, added: “If (the volunteer) didn’t book for me, I think I wouldn’t have gotten my jab today. I’ll wait until someone can help me make the booking online.”

Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing was also present at Tanjong Pagar CC on Wednesday. The Member of Parliament for Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency received his first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine earlier in the morning.

Dr Tan Joo Peng, 38, the lead physician who is overseeing the vaccination centres, said in response to TODAY’s question that seniors can present multiple medical conditions, and practitioners must look out for contraindications when screening them.

These conditions include allergies, fever in the past 24 hours, vaccinations in the last two weeks, or any conditions that can compromise their immune system, such as cancers or previous transplants.

Asked about the deployment at the vaccination centres, Dr Tan said as the number of sign-ups ramp up, more registration and vaccination stations will be opened to cater to the crowd. Only six out of the 12 vaccination stations were running on Wednesday, with six registration counters open, he added.

MANY SENIORS HAVE ALREADY BOOKED VACCINE APPOINTMENT

Aside from those getting the jab on Wednesday, most seniors whom TODAY spoke to in the two estates said they intend to be vaccinated and had already booked an appointment.

Still, there were those who were adopting a wait-and-see approach as they had concerns over side effects and allergic reactions.

Said a 70-year-old Serangoon North resident, who wanted to be known only as Ms Tan: “People like me who have a whole long list of allergies (would want to wait)… so I will see how it goes.”

Between 5,000 and 10,000 seniors in each of the two estates are expected to take part in this pilot. A larger vaccination centre at Ang Mo Kio, to be located in Teck Ghee CC, has yet to open and is slated to be operational by Feb 1.

On Tuesday, during a separate visit to the Tanjong Pagar CC, Mr Chan said that each of the 24 towns here will have one vaccination centre capable of delivering 2,000 vaccinations a day by the end of March.

This will ensure that when more vaccines arrive, they can be quickly distributed to the population, in particular the elderly, he added.