No need for rush to collect TraceTogether tokens: Vivian Balakrishnan

There is no need for Singaporeans to rush to collect the TraceTogether tokens, Minister-in-charge of the Smart Nation initiative Vivian Balakrishnan said yesterday.

The contact tracing devices can be collected at 38 community centres now. They will be available at all 108 community centres by the end of next month.

Dr Balakrishnan said that from today, Singaporeans are advised to collect their tokens from their area's community clubs and use the Token Go Where website to see when distribution begins there. This is to prevent long queues building up at distribution points.

He was speaking to the media at Buona Vista Community Club, after reports of long queues at some of the collection points over the first weekend since the Government announced that checking in with the TraceTogether app or token would be mandatory by end-December at all public venues, including restaurants, workplaces, schools and shopping malls.

He said there would be more than enough tokens.

"We will adjust the numbers supplied to meet the demand, obviously, and our contracts allow us to make those necessary adjustments," he said.

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The current target number of tokens to be produced is about 2.7 million, but this number can be adjusted in accordance with demand, said Dr Balakrishnan, who is also Foreign Minister.

Initially, the priority was to distribute the tokens to senior citizens and those who may not have access to a smartphone. But people's preferences will be taken into account, as some Singaporeans have given feedback that they prefer using the token to the app, said Dr Balakrishnan.

"I want to provide people with that option, because the key thing is participation - the overall participation in the TraceTogether programme," he said.

Currently, over 50 per cent of the population - more than 2.5 million people - have downloaded the TraceTogether app, and over 400,000 tokens have been distributed, he added.