Five joint testing and vaccination centres opening today

Five new centres that can conduct both Covid-19 testing and vaccination operations are opening today, helping to consolidate and chart the next phase of Singapore's Covid-19 operations.

Another five such joint testing and vaccination centres (JTVCs) are slated to open progressively from the end of next month.

With the majority of the population now vaccinated, Singapore will be progressively closing its vaccination centres from the end of this month, said Mr Dinesh Vasu Dash, group director of the Ministry of Health's Crisis Strategy and Operations Group.

There are currently 29 vaccination centres islandwide.

Mr Dinesh was speaking to reporters yesterday at JTVC Bishan, previously the premises of Bishan Park Secondary School.

Each JTVC offers two vaccines - JTVC Bishan offers the Novavax and Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty vaccines.

So far, more than 1,000 people have signed up and booked slots for the Novavax vaccine.

The JTVCs are designed so that they can scale up operations if new Covid-19 variants emerge.

Each centre can administer up to 4,500 vaccinations and run more than 2,000 tests a day.

The centres conduct both antigen rapid tests and polymerase chain reaction tests, and for three situations - pre-event testing, for those who have acute respiratory infection and those who need to be given stay-home notices.

"We are consolidating our operations and returning the community clubs (where the vaccination centres are) to residents so that they can return to their routine activities such as basketball and classes," Mr Dinesh said.

"These JTVCs are still conveniently located within familiar grounds for the public, and the public can always come in and get the vaccinations and tests done," he added.

The five JTVCs that are ope-ning today are in Jurong East, Pasir Ris, Kaki Bukit, Bishan and Commonwealth.

Singaporeans can book slots to undergo testing or vaccination at any of these JTVCs.

"We see ourselves operating such facilities for at least a year, if not two years, depending on how the virus evolves," Mr Dinesh said.

"We anticipate that there will be new variants, and more people may need booster shots."

Operations for vaccination and testing have to be isolated, with separate entrances at each centre to avoid intermingling of the two types of patients, he said.

This is because those who are getting tests done may already be carrying the virus, he added.

Each centre is colour-coded to differentiate between the services, with green signs for the vaccination section and purple ones for the testing area.

When a patient arrives for a jab, he will be directed to a holding room to wait for his turn.

He will then proceed to register for the vaccination.

After getting the shot, he will go to another room, where he will be observed before being allowed to leave.