Singapore has disclosed that it would commence the COVID-19 vaccination program for adolescents from Tuesday to help contain the latest outbreak that has infected some students.

It added that it would step up testing and tracing.

The city-state is among the first countries in the world to offer vaccines for teenagers before completing the inoculation of adults.

The city-state would open up vaccination for 12 to 18-year-old adolescents, followed by the last group of young adults aged 39 years and below.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong stated on Monday that “as long as our population is mostly vaccinated, we should be able to trace, isolate, and treat the cases that pop up, and prevent a severe and disastrous outbreak.’’

The prime minister said everyone who is eligible for vaccination and wants one should be able to get at least their first jab by the country’s national day, which falls on August 9.

Over a third of Singapore’s population of 5.7 million has received at least the first dose so far.

The country should also be able to relax recently imposed restrictions on social gatherings after two weeks if the local COVID-19 situation continues to improve, he added.

Singapore re-imposed some restrictions on social gatherings this month, the toughest since exiting a lockdown last year, to combat a recent spike in local COVID-19 infections.

The current restrictions are to last until June 13.

Lee said he had received confirmation of faster deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines over the next two months.

NAN