Teens aged 12 to 17 in Singapore will receive Covid booster shots.

• Teens aged 12 to 17 in Singapore are now eligible for the Covid booster program, authorities announced.
• Individuals who do not receive a booster shot after 270 days will no longer be considered fully vaccinated, in accordance with the policy for adults aged 18 and above that was recently announced.
• The country also adjusted border measures for people entering the country.

Authorities in Singapore have announced that the city-state is expanding its Covid-19 booster program to include teenagers aged 12 to 17.

The health ministry has updated its recommendation for a booster dose of an mRNA vaccine, now suggesting it be given five months after the primary vaccination series. Previously, only individuals aged 18 and above were eligible for boosters.

In Singapore, those who don't get a booster shot after 270 days will no longer be considered fully vaccinated.

Teens aged 12 to 17 will be subject to the rule one month later than older age groups, on March 14.

Under Singapore's national vaccination program, 88% of the population have received two shots, while 54% have received boosters.

Singapore made an announcement regarding booster shots for children and adolescents, following the statement of World Health Organization's Chief Scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan that there is currently no evidence to support the need for booster shots among healthy kids and teens.

The WHO previously stated that the general public does not require Covid boosters, and that expanding such programs may limit supply for lower-income countries and prolong the pandemic.

Singapore reduced the isolation period for children under 12 and vaccinated individuals who test positive for Covid from 10 days to 7 days.

The National Centre for Infectious Diseases of the country discovered through its research that the viral load for omicron infections is lower than for delta, and has a shorter infectious period.

Individuals aged 12 and above who are not vaccinated will still need to isolate for 14 days.

Adjusting border measures

Singapore will continue to restrict the number of people entering the country through its quarantine-free, vaccinated travel lane arrangement, capping the sales of flight and bus tickets at 50% of its quota.

Starting from Jan. 24, those entering the country will only need to take unsupervised, self-administered rapid Covid tests for seven days after arrival if they plan to leave their place of residence. No submission of results is required.

Upon arrival in Singapore, travelers must self-test and submit results on four days and undergo supervised testing on two days.

Fully vaccinated and recently recovered travelers will be exempt from all testing and quarantine requirements if they can provide proof.

According to the health ministry, fully vaccinated individuals who have recently recovered from COVID-19 infection have a high level of immunity and the likelihood of reinfection is low. Additionally, such travelers may test positive without posing any infection risk because they are shedding non-infectious viral fragments.

Individuals who have recently recovered from COVID-19 but are not fully vaccinated will not need to undergo a pre-departure test, but will be subject to other measures, according to the release.

The number of Covid cases in Singapore has been increasing in recent weeks, as the health ministry reported a weekly infection growth rate of 2.17 on Thursday.

In the past 28 days, 99.3% of reported cases exhibited mild or no symptoms. On Thursday, 1,472 infections were confirmed.

On Thursday, the health ministry reported 1,001 omicron cases, with 952 being local and 49 being imported.

Since the pandemic started, the city-state has recorded 297,549 Covid cases and 845 associated deaths.