Could Germany show Singapore the way to endemic-COVID life Big events a return of nightlife and regular self-tests

“I think that conceptually, people get it, but to… now say, ‘I’m going to let go because this is not feasible’, that’s a hard thing to do,” he explained. “It’s like if a certain formula has led you to success, then you keep wanting to repeat that formula... And I suspect we’re caught in that kind of cycle right now.”

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said that while Singapore cannot go into an indefinite lockdown, it cannot “simply let go and let things rip”. It wants to get to living safely with COVID-19 with “as few casualties as possible”, he wrote on Facebook last week.

Earlier in the month, he said Singapore residents would know they have arrived at a “new normal” when “light safe management measures” are in place and cases “remain stable â€" perhaps hundreds a day, but not growing”. Hospitals would be back to business-as-usual and people can see crowds again without getting worried or feeling strange.

He acknowledged that a few countries have reached this state, but said “they have paid for it dearly, losing many lives along the way”.

Like Singapore, one way in which Germany is keeping its defences up is by giving booster jabs to its people.

Since September, Germany has given boosters to nearly 800,000 people belonging to specific groups. They include the elderly in care and nursing homes, those with weakened immune systems and those who previously received the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

Protzer said a study has shown that after six to eight months, people tend to become ill again and have to go to hospitals. While scientists do not know how long boosters will offer protection for, Protzer said “what we know from other vaccines, is that you very often have to give three shots”.

“And after the third shot, you have a certain time, like five years or sometimes even 10 years, where you don’t have to give anything,” she said.

It could also be important to adapt the vaccines to the Delta variant for booster shots, she said.

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