11 new COVID-19 cases in Singapore, all imported

SINGAPORE: Eleven new COVID-19 infections were reported in Singapore as of noon on Tuesday (Mar 16).

All the new cases were imported and were placed on stay-home notice or isolated upon their arrival in Singapore, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in its preliminary daily update. 

No new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases were reported for the fourth consecutive day.

Details of the new cases will be released on Tuesday night, MOH said. 

MODERNA VACCINE 

The Moderna vaccine will be offered at four new vaccination centres, said MOH.

The four - Hong Kah North, Marsiling, Punggol 21 and Radis Mas community clubs - are among seven to progressively start operations from Wednesday.

Each centre will only stock and administer one type of COVID-19 vaccine, and people must select the same centre for both their first and second doses.

READ:  7 new COVID-19 vaccination centres to be set up, some offering Moderna shots

Announcing the move on Tuesday, MOH also said it would allow those who need to travel overseas urgently to appeal for early vaccination.

This includes those who have to travel for study, work or medical treatment under certain circumstances and people who need to visit or care for critically ill immediate family members.

VACCINATION GUIDELINES EASED

MOH has also eased its COVID-19 vaccination recommendations for certain groups of people, including those with multiple allergies that are not anaphylactic in nature.

Previously, those with a history of multiple allergies were advised to defer receiving mRNA-based vaccines. 

New evidence has shown that these individuals can be vaccinated as long as they have no life-threatening signs or symptoms suggestive of anaphylaxis, MOH said in its updated vaccination guidelines.

READ: MOH updates COVID-19 vaccination guidelines; those with multiple allergies without anaphylaxis can now receive jabs

Both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines - the only two to be approved in Singapore to date - are mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines.

People who have active cancer were also included in the updated guidelines, as long as they have not received chemotherapy, radiotherapy or immunotherapy in the last three months and do not plan to undergo these treatments in the next two months.

Additionally, people in remission can be vaccinated, as can those on active cancer hormonal therapy.

As of Tuesday, Singapore has reported a total of 60,128 COVID-19 cases.

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