Take-up Rate of National Adult Immunisation Schedule in 2020

Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis asked the Minister for Health (a) what is the take-up rate of the National Adult Immunisation Schedule in 2020; and (b) what are the plans for improving the take-up rate to reach 50% by 2025.

Mr Gan Kim Yong: To enhance the affordability and accessibility of recommended vaccinations in the National Adult Immunisation Schedule (NAIS), subsidies have been made available for eligible target groups at all Community Health Assist Scheme General Practitioner (CHAS GP) clinics and polyclinics since 1 November 2020.

As it has only been three months since the introduction of the subsidies for NAIS, the take-up rates at this point may not fully reflect the impact of the subsidies. Nonetheless, we are encouraged by the initial response. As of end-December 2020, based on information from subsidy claims, more than 80,000 NAIS vaccinations have been administered across more than 800 CHAS GP clinics and 20 polyclinics. As subsidies were only recently introduced, we are not able to compare this take-up rate with historical trends. Going forward, MOH will monitor the trends in the take-up of the NAIS vaccinations.

To further improve the take-up rate of nationally recommended vaccinations further, HPB recently launched a public education campaign to increase the awareness of the importance and safety of vaccination, and to encourage eligible individuals to get vaccinated. MOH will continue to monitor the progress and explore the opportunities for public education and outreach programmes.