38% of vulnerable S’pore residents do not plan to get more Covid-19 jabs: Survey
Published on
27 Apr 2023
Published by
The Straits Times
SINGAPORE – Most people here surveyed recently no longer view Covid-19 as a threat, with about 35 per cent saying they have no intention of getting more vaccine booster shots.
Among those who do not plan to get further booster jabs are people aged 60 and above, even though they are at greater risk of severe infection, according to a recent YouGov survey commissioned by Moderna Biotech Singapore and the Asia Pacific Immunisation Coalition (Apic).
A total of 1,110 people, aged 18 to older than 60, participated in the survey, which was conducted online and in English between March 30 and April 12. The participants included people with diabetes, heart conditions or chronic lung conditions.
At an event at the ArtScience Museum to unveil the survey results on Tuesday, Professor Tikki Pangestu, the co-chair of Apic, said it is a worry that only 15 per cent of those aged 60 and above see Covid-19 as a high or very high risk threat to their health; and nearly 38 per cent do not plan on getting more booster vaccinations.
The survey results come as Singapore is experiencing a small surge in Covid-19 cases, resulting in some hospitalisations, which adds to the hospitals’ high number of non-Covid-19 patients. The majority of hospitalised Covid-19 patients are those aged 60 and above.
Adjunct Associate Professor Matthias Toh from the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID), who attended the event, said NCID saw more of these patients in the last one to two weeks, and some of them had not been vaccinated at all.
Prof Pangestu said many people are not keen to take booster shots because of several factors, including vaccination fatigue and continued fear of side effects.
Recent news of the State Coroner’s ruling that the death of a 43-year-old domestic worker – certified as caused by myocarditis – was related to her Covid-19 vaccination would strike fear in people, he said, but added: “What people forget is that that was a very, very rare event.”
The worker had died days after taking a booster dose in 2021.
More than half of the survey respondents stated that they feared the potential side effects of Covid-19 vaccines more than contracting Covid-19 itself.
In the survey, only 8.8 per cent of those aged 60 and above said they would take a booster dose every six months.
About 20 per cent of this group said they would take a booster dose as frequently as advised by the Ministry of Health (MOH), 23.7 per cent said they would take it every year and around 8 per cent said they would take it every two years.
Dr Ong Kian Chung, president of the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Association (Singapore), who was on a panel discussion at the event, said he has been asking his patients to get the booster jabs, but not all will take the advice. Recently, one of his patients with lung issues told him she would not get a booster jab because “the pandemic is over”, he said.
Endocrinologist Ben Ng, another private sector specialist on the panel, said another factor in the decision over booster shots is the patients’ perception of their disease and whether they are vulnerable.
“Many patients with diabetes, they think that, ‘Oh, because my sugar’s well controlled, I am well looked after, there’s no problem’, and that’s clearly false,” he said.
Doctors have seen diabetes patients who contract Covid-19 become ill. These patients had extremely high blood sugar levels and their illness was more severe, he said.
Prof Pangestu said that to get people to take the booster jabs, the approach has to be personalised.
“Healthcare professionals... need to absolutely take the time to understand why people are hesitant, and then adapt and use the right kind of messages to show empathy and compassion,” he said.
Among the positive findings from the survey is the view from the majority of respondents that vaccines are important, said Prof Pangestu.
He said the Singapore Government has done very well in navigating the pandemic, and that without doubt, the speed of its reaction was excellent. Singapore has moved on to living with Covid-19, but there is no room for complacency. The medically vulnerable and at-risk groups remain susceptible to Covid-19 infection, the panel said.
“We must now come together to discuss and agree on how we act now that the virus is endemic. Vaccines have been crucial in helping us emerge from the pandemic, and they still have a large role to play, especially in protecting the vulnerable from severe infection,” said Prof Pangestu.
Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Reproduced with permission.
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