Singapore mandates Covid-19 boosters for recovered individuals from June 1

SINGAPORE residents who have recovered from Covid-19 must get a booster jab within 9 months of their primary doses, the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced on Friday (Apr 22).

From June 1 onwards, recovered individuals aged 12 and above will need a booster dose to maintain their vaccinated status. The booster can be taken from 28 days after infection.

That’s as the MOH and the expert committee on Covid-19 vaccination (EC19V) now believe that more boosters will be needed, which Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said “is not different from individuals having to take your annual vaccinations for influenza, which is an endemic disease”.

The MOH is monitoring waves involving virus variants such as Omicron to decide on when to roll out second boosters across the population, said Ong, a co-chair of the multi-ministry taskforce on Covid-19.

Meanwhile, vaccinated seniors aged 60 to 79 years old can now take a second booster about 5 months after their first booster, under the latest change to Singapore’s vaccination policy.

“While the EC19V is not recommending that they receive as a second booster shot, the committee agreed to offer it to them should they wish to take it,” the MOH said.

The second booster is already available to those 80 and older. Some 30 per cent of eligible seniors in this group have already received their second booster, Ong disclosed.