SINGAPORE: COVID-19 vaccinations have begun for Singapore Armed Forces personnel, with plans in place to vaccinate the majority of active forces by the middle of this year, said the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) in a Facebook post on Thursday (Jan 21).
Active forces include regulars and full-time national servicemen, but not operationally ready national servicemen.
AdvertisementAdvertisementDefence Minister Ng Eng Hen and Senior Minister of State for Defence Zaqy Mohamad were part of an initial batch of SAF personnel who received the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Jan 14.
They will get their second dose 21 days later.
This initial phase of the vaccination programme for SAF medical and COVID-19 frontline personnel is expected to be completed within six weeks, inclusive of the second dose.
"Dr Ng shared that plans are underway to get the bulk of the SAF’s active forces vaccinated by the middle of this year," MINDEF said.
AdvertisementAdvertisement"All active SAF service personnel who are medically eligible to be vaccinated will be able to receive the vaccination."
MINDEF added that wide vaccination coverage in the SAF will protect its servicemen and women, support its operational readiness and enable the wider resumption of training and force generation activities.
The ministry quoted Dr Ng as saying that the jab was "smooth and painless".
“We want to do (the vaccination) safely and with the experience that I’ve had, they’ve worked out the processes very well," he was quoted as saying.
AdvertisementIn a separate Facebook post on Thursday, Dr Ng said the aim is to complete the vaccinations by mid this year, "if supplies of vaccines arrive as planned".
"Vaccinations to achieve herd immunity will provide assurance for our soldiers in critical units to function safely and effectively while performing their security duties," he said.
"When accomplished, we can resume full training and operations," he added.
Let's block ads! (Why?)
More...