Its medical experts say residents may see hundreds of deaths each year from endemic COVID-19, similar to the flu. That pragmatic approach could set an example for other countries looking to exit lockdowns as they ramp up their own inoculation programmes.

“The only way to have no deaths from a disease anywhere in the world is to eliminate the disease altogether and that has only been done for smallpox,” said Paul Tambyah, president of the Asia Pacific Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infection.

Singapore has reported only 44 COVID-19 deaths since the outbreak started in early January 2020. That compares with about 800 flu-related deaths in a typical year, according to doctors, in the country with a population of 5.7 million.

“While the idea of hundreds of COVID deaths seems shocking compared to the deaths so far and worth taking efforts to prevent, it is on par with influenza, which society hardly cares about,” said Alex Cook, an infectious disease modelling expert at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

As many as 1,000 may die in the next year or two in Singapore if vaccinations among the elderly do not improve, he added.

Experts forecast that majority of the deaths will be among those in the oldest age group, who remain unvaccinated despite being eligible for nearly half the year.

The country’s health minister, Ong Ye Kung said this month that as the economy opens up, Singaporeans must “be psychologically prepared that the death toll due to COVID-19 will likely also go up.”

Three-quarters of Singapore’s population is fully inoculated against the coronavirus, and the country is set to ease more restrictions in September when the vaccination rate hits 80%.

According to Reuters