Singapore’s Virus Cases Stay Low as Inoculations Gather Pace

(Bloomberg) -- Singaporean officials identified five new local coronavirus cases, staying within range of the previous day’s figures, as the government speeds up its vaccination program.

All cases detected were linked to earlier infections, government data showed on Tuesday. Five imported cases were found and had already been placed under quarantine. The day before, the Health Ministry reported four local infections, all of which were connected to earlier cases.

Singapore is set to accelerate the pace of vaccinations as part of a phased reopening plan. In a Facebook post earlier today, which has since been removed, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said that authorities will be opening up vaccination bookings for non-citizens tomorrow, two days ahead of what was initially planned.

The authorities appear to have reduced the waiting time between doses to four weeks, from six to eight weeks previously. The Straits Times reported that several people were able to bring forward the date for their second vaccine jab. Last week, Health Minister Ong said the government was reviewing the interval between doses and will look to reduce it.

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