Since Singapore’s COVID-19 vaccination exercise kicked off on Dec 30, 2020, more than 6,200 people have been inoculated against the virus in the country.

One of them being Terence Kua, who works as an assistant F&B manager at Mount Elizabeth Hospital. As he is considered a staff working in the healthcare sector, he was prioritised to receive the vaccine. 

At the end of December 2020, the hospital Terence was working at notified him of the vaccination exercise. He indicated his interest to receive the vaccine as he wanted to protect himself and the people around him from the virus. 

He said: “Nobody knows when this pandemic will end or when is a good time to be vaccinated.

“Working in a hospital environment definitely had some influence in my decision to get vaccinated too. Putting work aside, as long as I fit the criteria, I will still personally opt to get vaccinated. 

“With more people getting vaccinated, it is harder for the transmission of the virus, and this way, everyone will be safer.” 

Receiving his first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at Mount Elizabeth Hospital on Wednesday (Jan 13), Terence described the process as “fuss-free”. 

“On the day of the vaccination, I proceeded to the vaccination venue at the allocated time. And I have to say, the whole process, from registration to vaccination to discharge, was seamless,” said the 38-year-old, who will return for the second dose in slightly under two weeks’ time. 

“There was some initial nervousness, but that quickly disappeared after seeing my colleagues get their vaccinations done and the process was smooth-sailing with a positive outcome.”

With the vaccine roll-out, Terence is hopeful that things can only get better from now on and that life will return to normalcy soon. 

“At the end of a storm, there’s a golden sky and I believe that this vaccine is a step towards seeing the golden sky,” he said. 

Thus far, only the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been approved in Singapore, and more COVID-19 vaccines are expected to arrive in Singapore in the coming months. They include those manufactured by United States’ Moderna and China’s Sinovac. 

Should all go according to plan, there will be enough COVID-19 vaccines for Singaporeans and long-term residents of Singapore by the third quarter of 2021.