Covid-19 booster shots to be administered 5 months after second dose for all age groups: Ong Ye Kung

Covid-19 booster shots to be administered 5 months after second dose for all age groups: Ong Ye Kung
The Expert Committee on Covid-19 Vaccination now recommends that the interval rate for receiving boosters be standardised to five months for all age groups.
PHOTO: The Straits Times file

SINGAPORE - Those eligible to receive their Covid-19 booster shots can now receive them five months after completing their primary two-dose regime from Wednesday (Nov 24), said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on Saturday (Nov 20).

This would mean that half the population would likely have received their booster by the end of the year.

Mr Ong, co-chair of the multi-ministry task force press conference tackling Covid-19, said that the Expert Committee on Covid-19 Vaccination now recommends that the interval rate for receiving boosters be standardised to five months for all age groups.

Previously, the recommendation was that boosters be administered six months after the second dose for those aged 30 to 59, and five months after the second dose for those aged 60 and above, he said at during a press conference by the task force.

"So with this change, from now to end December, we hope to administer about 1.5 million boosters," he said.

"In addition, raising our coverage from 21 per cent of our population to about 50 per cent... means by year-end, half of our population will be freshly boosted with high levels of antibodies," he added.

He stressed that the third dose was now a must, due to the dominant Delta variant of the virus.

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"At some point, we will need everyone who has two doses of vaccine to get a third one, as with the Delta variant, there is now an emerging view among clinical and scientific communities that (the Covid-19 vaccine) is a three-dose vaccine, just like Hepatitis B."

The Health Ministry said on Saturday that the waning of antibodies occurs around six months after the second dose and earlier for those who are older.

"The committee now recommends that we standardise the interval rate to five months for all age groups eligible for boosters, as this would be an appropriate interval to preempt waning of antibodies for all," it added.

SMS invitations to take these shots will be sent out to this group of people before their five-month interval.

Those currently eligible to take their vaccine booster shots include those aged 30 and above, and frontline workers who are at risk of Covid-19 infection.

"For those who are eligible based on the criteria to-date, but have not received their SMS invitations, they are also invited to walk in to any Moderna Vaccination Centre to receive their booster vaccination without a need to book an appointment," said the ministry.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction. 

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