GEIS-新闻详情

Publicity trucks to drive up Covid-19 vaccine awareness among seniors

2021-08-09 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-新加坡原网页

SINGAPORE - In a bid to get more seniors to take the Covid-19 jabs, two trucks will go around heartland areas in the next few weeks to spread messages on vaccination, said the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) on Saturday (Aug 7).

The #IGotMyShot trucks, which started making their rounds on Friday, will be deployed in the same areas as the Ministry of Health's (MOH) mobile vaccination teams, including Woodlands, Yishun, Bukit Merah, Hougang, Sengkang, Bedok, Tampines and Jurong West.

They will broadcast prerecorded messages in the four official languages and selected dialects, and display posters, calling on unvaccinated seniors to get their shots with the mobile vaccination teams nearby.

An emcee in each truck will provide more information, such as about the specific locations and operation hours of the teams.

These efforts come amid a push to vaccinate more seniors, who are at higher risk of being infected by the coronavirus and becoming seriously ill.

Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said on Friday that the 10 mobile vaccination teams deployed so far have vaccinated about 3,340 seniors aged above 60.

The percentage of people aged 60 to 69 who have received at least one vaccine dose went up from 84 per cent a month ago to 89 per cent this week.

For those above 70, vaccine coverage increased from 74 per cent a month ago to 82 per cent this week.

But this still leaves nearly 20 per cent of seniors above 70 unvaccinated, lagging behind all other age groups.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, Mr Ong said the trucks hark back to kampung days, when such publicity trucks plied neighbourhoods to raise awareness on key Government programmes, including mass vaccination drives for smallpox in 1959.

"It was a hard-won battle," he added calling on seniors to get vaccinated. "Today, our way to protect our citizens from infectious diseases remains the same."