SINGAPORE, Aug 27 — The Ministry of Health (MOH) said today that Singapore is on track to meet its target of getting 80 per cent of the total population fully vaccinated by the end of August.

Given this level of vaccination, the authorities will close four of its mass vaccination centres by the end of September.

In a media release, MOH said that the country’s national vaccination programme has "made good progress”, with 79 per cent of the total population fully vaccinated as of yesterday.

The ministry noted, however, that there has been an uptick in the number of Covid-19 cases in the last four days.

"As at August 26, the number of new local cases has increased from an average of 47.1 cases per day in the week before to 76.0 cases per day in the past week,” MOH said.

It added that of the cases in the past week, 98.9 per cent were asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic and did not need dedicated medical care.

MOH stressed that the multi-ministry taskforce in charge of handling the Covid-19 pandemic here is "watching the situation closely” to ensure that the number of coronavirus cases with severe symptoms remain under control and "do not strain our healthcare system”.

"We urge Singaporeans to self-regulate your social activities to help reduce potential transmission, conduct self-tests to monitor your own health, and to seek medical care early if you are exhibiting symptoms of acute respiratory infection, however minor,” said MOH.

Closure of four vaccination centres

MOH said that four mass vaccination centres — Bukit Timah Community Club, Kolam Ayer Community Club, Marsiling Community Club and Yuhua Community Club — will be closed by the end of September.

New bookings for Marsiling and Kolam Ayer community clubs will stop from September 2 while those at Bukit Timah and Yuhua will cease a week later on September 9.

The ministry said that with almost 80 per cent of the population fully vaccinated, the number of vaccinations each day "has dropped sharply to less than a quarter of its peak”.

MOH will shift its vaccination operations to more public health preparedness clinics (PHPC) as well as mobile and home vaccination teams for seniors.

"We will increase the number of PHPCs administering Covid-19 vaccinations from the 65 clinics today to more than 80 clinics in September,” said MOH. — TODAY