Singapore delays 2nd vaccine dose; all eligible residents should get at least one dose by early August

SINGAPORE - From Wednesday, everyone who registers for a Covid-19 vaccination will have their second dose scheduled six to eight weeks after the first.

In tandem with this change, the nationwide vaccination rollout will also be expanded to those aged 40 to 44 from Wednesday (May 19), said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung.

The national vaccination programme will also be extended to those in the 12- to 15-year age group soon, the multi-ministry taskforce said on Tuesday.

This change in vaccination strategy aims to vaccinate 400,000 more individuals here with at least one dose by end-July.

The adjusted strategy means that virtually all eligible Singapore residents should get at least one dose by early August, said Mr Ong.

"If all goes smoothly, 4.7 million individuals will be covered by at least one dose of vaccination by August (and) this will substantively cover almost all our eligible population," he said.

Those who already have vaccination appointments for their second shot will not be affected, he added. But those who wish to voluntarily push back their second shot so that another person can get their first dose can do so.

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The lengthened two-dose regime will begin from Wednesday, said Mr Ong, who stressed that the second dose will still be needed, and given, for maximum protection.

At present, most countries recommend that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine be taken 21 days apart, and for its Moderna counterpart 28 days apart.

However, some have since shifted to giving each dose further apart in order to quickly give as many people partial protection against the virus as possible.

Britain, for instance, has been giving its people vaccine doses up to 12 weeks apart since January, following a spike in cases in December and January.

International experience has shown that individuals with their second doses delayed still had "robust protection" against the virus, said the Health Ministry's Director of Medical Services Kenneth Mak.

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