Percentage of Population Having Taken Fourth COVID-19 Vaccine Dose

65 Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Health (a) what is the current percentage of the population that has received a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose; and (b) whether there are plans to integrate COVID-19 vaccination into an annual vaccination regimen, akin to the influenza vaccine.

Mr Ong Ye Kung: Currently, about 80% of our population have achieved minimum protection of at least three doses of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. For persons aged 60 and above, about half have received an additional dose beyond minimum protection.

The protection from vaccines wane over time. As COVID-19 has become an endemic disease, it is more important that seniors and medically vulnerable individuals keep their vaccination up to date, that is, taking a booster around once a year, to reinforce their own protection.

As COVID-19 is a relatively new disease, we will continue to study its disease characteristics and vaccination recommendations, before considering it for the national immunisation schedules which are stable long-term recommendations.