THE current Omicron wave is likely to not be as severe as the first one that hit Singapore earlier this year, with more people gaining stronger immunity through boosters or recovery from infections, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said in Parliament on Tuesday (July 5).

Last Tuesday, the number of new Covid-19 cases crossed the 11,000 mark for the first time since March, and Ong said the Health Ministry is expected to report over 12,000 cases on Tuesday, a figure that is “near its peak”.

Ong noted that the second Omicron wave in South Africa driven by the more infectious BA.4 and BA.5 variant made up about one-third the peak of its previous wave.

“Every country’s experience will be different, but we have good reason to believe that this will be a smaller wave than the last,” said Ong.

He added that the stronger immunity from booster shots and past infections would “significantly impede” the circulation and transmission of the virus.

The key is to ensure that hospital capacity is not overly stressed, the minister said, adding that the authorities have been relying on 2 strategies.

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The first is ensuring high vaccination and booster coverage, while the second is to ensure Singapore’s healthcare institutions and facilities are prepared and ready to ramp up capacity.

Ong also urged those who are eligble to take their boosters to do so, adding that 3 shots of the vaccines are needed to protect against the Omicron variant. Those who are recommended to receive a second booster should proceed to do so, even if they have been infected previously, he added.

The minister noted that there are still 60,000 seniors aged 60 and above who have not taken their first booster or third shot, and the government has stepped up its efforts to remind seniors to do so in recent months.

Since Jun 27, the government has also been sending out mobile vaccination teams to the heartlands to make it more convenient for seniors to get their shots.

Ong noted that while current international and local evidence show the severity of the Omicron subvariants are not worse compared to earlier Omicron strains, Singapore’s hospitals, clinics and other healthcare institutions are on standby to prepare for future waves.

He added that the government has recently consolidated its Covid-19 treatment facilities to about 1,100 beds with higher manning ratio to make it easier to transfer patients from acute hospitals to these facilities without a significant drop in level of care. These are currently 27 per cent occupied.

General practitioners continue to take care of Covid-19 cases within the community, said Ong, and all polyclinics and 88 participating Public Health Preparedness Clinic (PHPC) can prescribe oral antivirals to clinically eligble patients.

Overall, the government has spent about S$730 million and S$220 million on subsidising inpatient and outpatient treatments for Covid-19 respectively as of financial year 2021, Ong told the House.

The government has stood up more than 1,000 PHPCs since February and this number was not reduced as it anticipated a new wave of infection, he said.