Singapore expands COVID-19 vaccinations to younger age group

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore said on Wednesday it has opened up its COVID-19 immunisation drive to a younger age group, after more than half of its elderly population signed up for or received their vaccinations.

Residents aged 45 to 59 years can now register to receive vaccines, of which 1.1 million doses have so far been administered in Singapore, with 310,000 people having completed the full regimen, health minister Gan Kim Yong told a media briefing.

The trade and tourism reliant nation of 5.7 million people, a regional business centre, has recorded no new locally-transmitted coronavirus cases in the past two weeks and has managed to quickly control most of its outbreaks.

Singapore has been using vaccines made by Pfizer and BioNTech and Moderna, and has taken delivery of 200,000 doses of CoronaVac, the vaccine of Sinovac Biotech, which has yet to be granted emergency use approval by Singapore authorities.

Asked if the city-state has seen disruption in its vaccine supply due to the European Union’s extension on export restrictions, Gan said Singapore has yet to experience any problems but “remain concerned about the supplies and continuity of supplies.”

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