By Ebi Kesiena
With vaccination of 80 percent of its 5.7 million people against COVID-19, Singapore is now the worlds most vaccinated country.
In a facebook post on Sunday, Singapore’s Health Minister Ong Ye Kung noted that the country has crossed another milestone.
“We have crossed another milestone, where 80% of our population has received their full regimen of two doses.
“It means Singapore has taken another step forward in making ourselves more resilient to COVID-19.” he stated.
Other countries that have high vaccination rates include the United Arab Emirates, Uruguay and Chile, which have fully inoculated more than 70 percent of their populations.
Singapore, which began its vaccination campaign in January, relied mostly on the vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
Earlier in August, Ong said if Singapore can continue to keep the number of severe cases and illnesses under control and our healthcare capacity is not overly stretched, then the country will further open up its economy and allow social activities and quarantine-free travel to resume.
Singaporeans will be allowed to travel again, at least to countries that have also controlled the virus.
“We will recognise each other’s vaccination certificates. Travellers, especially those vaccinated, can get themselves tested before departure and be exempted from quarantine with a negative test upon arrival,” he said.
Singapore reported 113 new infections on Saturday and has logged a total of 67,171 cases since the pandemic began.
