People walk past the Rain Vortex indoor waterfall feature at Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore on August 19, 2021.
(ROSLAN RAHMAN / AFP)
Singapore has outpaced most advanced economies to fully vaccinate 80 percent of its population against COVID-19, paving the way for the small but wealthy city-state to forge ahead with reopening in an approach that’s closely watched by the rest of the world still figuring out how to live with the virus.
“We have crossed another milestone, where 80 percent of our population has received their full regimen of two doses,” Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said in a Facebook post on Sunday. “It means Singapore has taken another step forward in making ourselves more resilient to COVID-19.”
Singapore has one of the world’s best vaccination rates — higher only in places like Gibraltar, Malta and the Maldives — but still generally requires people arriving in the country to undergo two-week quarantine in a local hotel, and group gatherings are limited to just five
Senior officials have pegged the vaccination milestone to the government’s cautious strategy, pledging to use the high rate to gradually open up more economic and social activities, as well as quarantine-free travel.
As it does, Singapore is hoping to do something few places with open borders have been able to manage: keep serious infection and death rates under control, and in so doing prevent the sort of outbreak that would put the health-care system at risk and lead to new restrictions.
ALSO READ: Singapore prepares for long term life – and death – with virus
Singapore currently imposes stricter social-distancing measures than most global financial capitals outside Asia. It has one of the world’s best vaccination rates — higher only in places like Gibraltar, Malta and the Maldives — but still generally requires people arriving in the country to undergo two-week quarantine in a local hotel, and group gatherings are limited to just five.
The restrictions have started to loosen in recent weeks. The government reopened restaurants to in-person dining on Aug 10 for those who are fully vaccinated, and a week later eased strict work-from-home rules, allowing as many as 50 percent of employees to return to the office. It also increased the capacity of spaces that see large numbers of patrons, like malls and cinemas, and ended temperature screenings that have been required to enter public places since early in the pandemic.
In what represents its biggest leap of faith yet toward reopening, the city-state is taking steps to welcome vaccinated travelers from some countries with an intention to expand travel lanes.
Inoculated travelers from Germany and Brunei will from next month be able to enter the country via a special Vaccinated Travel Lane, which will allow approved passengers, including short-term visitors, to bypass quarantine altogether after being tested for COVID-19, officials said recently.
Germany and Brunei were chosen as places where Singapore could test its confidence in vaccinated travel lanes, with COVID infections in both places at manageable levels. “As the saying goes, we are feeling the stones as we cross the river,” said Lawrence Wong, the finance minister and a co-chair of the nation’s COVID task force.
Singapore is now eyeing a third round of vaccine as booster shots for some fully vaccinated individuals, especially the severely immunocompromised. Recommendations are expected shortly.
The city-state also expects to begin vaccinating children under age 12 sometime in early 2022, after safety and efficacy have been sufficiently studied.
Australia
Sydney had a record number of COVID-19 infections, accounting for the bulk of cases in New South Wales as Australia’s most populous state battles to contain the spread of the highly infectious delta variant.
The state saw a high of 1,218 daily infections in the 24 hours to 8 pm local time on Saturday, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters Sunday in Sydney. Six more people died.
Hundreds of thousands of people per day are now being inoculated after a slow start to Australia’s rollout, though cases continue to rise in Sydney’s least-affluent south and southwestern suburbs
ALSO READ: Brisbane joins Sydney in lockdown as virus spreads
Infections in the country’s most populous state have been rising — topping 1,000 for the first time last week — despite a ramped up immunization drive and a lockdown in Sydney since the end of June. The state is about half way to a double-dose vaccination rate of 70 percent, the threshold Berejiklian has set for people to get back some freedom of movement and begin to live with the virus in the community, she said.
The state’s premier also stressed the importance of vaccination to help keep people out of hospitals. About 800 people are currently hospitalized and 120 are in intensive care units. Given the daily tally of cases, patients with the virus in ICU won’t peak before October, Berejiklian said.
“What is the most relevant number for New South Wales is how many people are vaccinated and how many people we are keeping out of hospital and out of intensive care,” she said.
Hundreds of thousands of people per day are now being inoculated after a slow start to Australia’s rollout, though cases continue to rise in Sydney’s least-affluent south and southwestern suburbs and the west of the state, which has relatively large populations of vulnerable Indigenous people.
This picture taken on August 27, 2021 shows a residents exercising along the Sydney Harbour during the lockdown.
(SAEED KHAN / AFP)
Iran
The Iranian Health Ministry reported on Saturday 26,034 new COVID-19 cases, taking the country's total infections to 4,895,448.
According to a briefing published by Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education on its official website, the pandemic has claimed 105,901 lives in the country so far, after 614 new deaths were registered in the past 24 hours.
A total of 4,117,098 people have recovered from the disease or been discharged from hospitals across the country, while 7,845 remain in intensive care units, the ministry said on its official website.
By Saturday, 18,045,088 people have received at least a dose of a coronavirus vaccine in the country, while 7,563,414 have taken two doses.
ALSO READ: Iran's COVID-19 death toll surpasses 100,000
The official report adds that 28,556,919 tests have so far been carried out across the country.
Earlier in the day, Iran's Minister of Health Bahram Eynollahi, in his first day in the ministry after his ratification in parliament on Wednesday, told reporters that he expects to complete Iran's general vaccination program against COVID-19 in early 2022.
Iranian health officials have said that the reasons for the recent increase in infection rates since the end of June are the higher contagiousness of the Delta variant currently spreading in Iran, and a decline in people's observance of health recommendations.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has vowed as his first priority in government to control the COVID-19 pandemic and improve the health situation in the country.
Japan
Japan could mix AstraZeneca Plc’s COVID-19 shots with those developed by other companies in order to speed up its vaccination effort, according to the minister in charge of the country’s rollout.
The idea would be to combine the dose with one from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE or Moderna Inc, Taro Kono said Sunday on a Fuji TV news program.
Since AstraZeneca recommends eight weeks between its two shots, it’s likely that time could be shortened if combined, Kono added.
Studies on mixing Covid vaccines so far show that it could result in an equal if not stronger immune response. But it’s not clear which combination could give the best protection that will last the longest, and there’s some evidence that mixing could cause worse side effects. Countries like Canada, Germany and France allow mix-and-match vaccines, but the US has warned against doing so.
ALSO READ: Two die in Japan after shots from suspended Moderna vaccines
“I’m asking the health ministry to issue its point of view on whether it’s OK to mix the vaccines,” Kono said. If mixing is allowed, he said it would also increase the options for a potential third shot that Japan is considering.
Vaccinations in Japan, which started late compared to other developed nations, has progressed quickly since early summer. About 44 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, including nearly 90 percent of those over the age of 65. Still, a majority of younger people haven’t been inoculated and they have been the worst affected during its current surge of infections.
All three vaccines are approved for use in Japan, but most of the 124.5 million doses given have used Pfizer and Moderna. AstraZeneca was approved in May, although the Japanese government did not make it immediately available, taking a cautious stance on reports of related blood clots.
Last month, Japan began to allow a limited rollout of AstraZeneca vaccine to those over the age of 40 that wanted to take it. Most of the shots are being produced domestically and don’t rely on imports. Japan has almost two million AstraZeneca doses on hand, Kono said.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka's Defense authorities on Saturday received a batch of 300,000 doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine, donated by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China.
The vaccines which arrived at Bandaranaike International Airport on Saturday morning have been handed over to Sri Lankan Defence Secretary General Kamal Gunaratne by Wang Dong, defense attaché of the Chinese Embassy to Sri Lanka.
Speaking to journalists after the handover ceremony, Defence Secretary Gunaratne said the service personnel, their families and the ex-servicemen are expected to be vaccinated with the vaccines.
"Since a greater number of service personnel have been vaccinated as of now, the general public could also be facilitated using the balance amount," he said.
Expressing gratitude to China for the timely support, General Gunaratne said, "We are so happy that as a result of a request made by the Ministry of Defense of Sri Lanka to the Defense Minister of China, we received 300,000 doses of vaccines for members of the security forces and their family members. This is a timely donation."
Recalling the remarkable and long-standing relationship between the two countries, Wan Dong said the Chinese people have never hesitated to extend their support to the Sri Lankans in difficult times.
The donation shows the solidarity between the two countries in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, he added.
On his Twitter account, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa thanked China's PLA for the donation, saying the assistance from China will ensure the vaccination drive in Sri Lanka a success.
Army Commander General Shavendra Silva said that on the same flight, 2 million more doses of the Sinopharm vaccines had also arrived from China.
Sri Lanka has so far received 18 million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine, which is the leading vaccine being administered across the country.
A man wearing a face mask gazes at the Dubai skyline from a window, during a lockdown imposed by the authorities in a bid to slow down the spread of novel coronavirus infection in the Emirati city on April 5, 2020. (KARIM SAHIB / AFP)
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates will open up tourist visa applications to everyone who has been vaccinated with one of the shots approved by the World Health Organization, a potential boost to the country’s key tourism sector.
The decision applies to citizens of all countries, including those arriving from previously banned nations, state-run WAM reported late on Saturday. The move is part of the country’s strategy to support “national efforts to achieve sustainable recovery and economic growth,” the news agency said.
The new rules go into effect on August 30. Passengers arriving on tourist visas must register their vaccination status on the government’s health app and undergo rapid testing at the airport, according to WAM.
Since scrapping arrivals from countries including India, Pakistan and Nigeria, the UAE has been gradually easing rules on travel. The country, whose biggest cities include Abu Dhabi and Dubai, started to allow residents return from earlier this month.
The WHO has so far approved shots from AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, Sinopharm and Sinovac. Cases have been steadily dropping in the UAE, which has also rolled out one of the fastest vaccination programs in the world.