Singapore's swift COVID vaccinations start with 5-minute bookings

Use of smartphones helps city-state lead Asia's inoculation race

20210421 singapore vaccine

A coronavirus vaccination in Singapore: The city-state has made it quick and easy to get the jab. © Reuters

MAYUKO TANI, Nikkei staff writer

SINGAPORE -- As a small but wealthy city-state with advanced medical infrastructure, Singapore was always well-positioned to quickly vaccinate its population against COVID-19. So far, it is pulling it off -- largely thanks to effective use of digital technology.

Singapore has jumped ahead of its neighbors in terms of the proportion of the population inoculated. The latest figures from Sunday show over 23% of residents -- or roughly 1.3 million people -- had received at least one vaccine dose, according to the statistics website Our World in Data. That was the highest ratio in Asia excluding even tinier Bhutan, which has rapidly proceeded with shots acquired from India for free.

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