Bangkok, Aug. 31, (dpa/GNA) – Singapore is to send half a million coronavirus vaccine doses to Australia as part of an exchange that will see Canberra return the favour in December.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he was “glad to support” Australia’s vaccination programme.
“Countries must be united in the battle to quell the pandemic, so that we can all move into the new normal,” the prime minister said.
Lee’s Australian counterpart Scott Morrison said the jabs “will be distributed next week to states and territories on an equal population basis.”
Around eight in 10 Singaporeans have received two vaccine doses, according to the Health Ministry, compared to around 35 per cent of Australians over the age of 16.
Singapore “possesses sufficient supplies to meet our immediate needs,” according to the Foreign Ministry, which said the deal would allow the two countries “to support each other in optimizing our respective schedules for vaccinating our populations.”
The idea is that when Australia sends its 500,000 doses to Singapore later this year, they can be used as booster shots or for incoming migrant workers as the country reopens.
GNA