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Singapore releases vaccine earworm - 12th May 2021

By global standards, Singapore has maintained relatively low numbers of Covid infections. However, with cases creeping up again and the island state imposing stricter pandemic measures on its population, the authorities have taken the unusual step of producing an inoculation earworm - complete with day-glo dance video - to urge its citizens to book their Covid vaccination.

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Donning his trademark curled wig, facial mole and yellow rubber boots, the 90s sitcom character Phua Chu Kang drops bars in Singlish, an English-derived patois, to persuade his wife Rosie to go get her jab.

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Comedian Gurmit Singh is the man behind the mole, and throughout the video, he tackles the reasons behind vaccine hesitancy, alleviating the concerns of those with health conditions and others reticent to be inoculated.

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Shared on YouTube and the Singapore government's vaccination webpage alongside more detailed medical advice, the disco tune comes complete with its own hashtag: #igotmyshot.

The much loved character of Phua has been deployed to dispense medical advice previously, in songs during the SARS outbreak and again at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic. However, this time, his rap skills have garnered international acclaim.

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Tan Chuan-Jin, Singapore's speaker of parliament, tweeted his reaction to Phua's medical musical stylings. “Get vaccinated! Otherwise we will have to keep playing this video ad nauseum,” he wrote, followed by a laughing emoji.