Third dose needed to extend Covid-19 vaccination status; more vaccination-differentiated measures from Feb 1

SINGAPORE will be introducing a validity period for Covid-19 fully-vaccinated status, while vaccination-differentiated safe management measures will be expanded from Feb 1, said the multi-ministry taskforce on Covid-19 on Tuesday (Dec 14).

The emergence of Covid-19 variants means that Covid-19 primary vaccination must be treated as a three-dose regime, said taskforce co-chair and Health Minister Ong Ye Kung.

This means that the "fully-vaccinated" status after receiving two mRNA vaccine doses, or three Sinovac or Sinopharm doses, will last "a limited period", he added.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) is consulting the expert committee on Covid-19 vaccination to determine what this duration should be, with the policy expected to be announced at the end of the year, or early next year.

But he assured the public that "if you have not been given the chance to get your booster, your full vaccination status will not lapse". Similarly, those who are not eligible for boosters will not have their status lapse either.

There are about 160,000 unvaccinated persons in Singapore today, of whom 40,000 are seniors aged 60 and above, said Ong.

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Singapore has detected 16 Omicron variant cases to date, of which 14 were imported and 2 were local infections of individuals working at the airport.

While Singapore has not detected community transmission of the Omicron variant yet, this is "only a matter of time" given the experience of other countries, and that may lead to another surge in cases, said taskforce co-chair and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong.

Singapore must thus prepare for such a scenario, with vaccination remaining the main defence, and vaccination-differentiated measures playing an important part in protecting the unvaccinated, he added.

From Feb 1, vaccination-differentiated safe management measures will be extended to more settings: indoor sports facilities, institutes of higher learning (IHLs), and leisure guests in hotels, hostels and serviced apartments

But students in IHLs who are completing their full-time NITEC, Higher NITEC, diploma, or degree programmes will be exempted from this requirement when entering their educational institutions. More details will be released by the relevant agencies.

From Feb 1, all events - regardless of size - must also have vaccination-differentiated measures. This is a change from current rules which require such measures only for events with over 50 attendees.

Meanwhile, earlier pilots of "VDS+Test" events - where safe management measures can be eased for fully-vaccinated individuals with a valid negative antigen rapid test (ART) result - have been successful and will be expanded where feasible, said the taskforce. These pilots included sporting events and selected MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) events.

Other changes are also being made in view of the Omicron variant.

From Jan 1, persons who recover from Covid-19 but are not fully vaccinated will only have a 180-day exemption allowing them to enter settings with vaccination-differentiated safe management measures, down from 270 days currently.

Non-fully vaccinated individuals who have recovered before Jan 1 will also have this shorter exemption period, but if they already exceed the 180-day period as at Jan 1, they will get another month's grace period to complete vaccination by Jan 31.

Given the likely higher transmissibility of the Omicron variant, the government is also putting in place contingency plans to ramp up healthcare and intensive care unit (ICU) capacity, increase community treatment facility capacity, and increase manpower.

The home recovery protocol will also be expanded in January, to cover mildly symptomatic and suitably fit Covid-19 patients who can recover well at home, with details to come at a later date.

MOH director of medical services Kenneth Mak said Singapore is preparing for the possibility of ramping up ICU capacity to 500 beds. But even while the healthcare system has the ability to stretch to more beds, it cannot do so in a sustained fashion without compromising clinical services or care of other cases in hospitals - which is why it is extremely important to reduce the incidence of severely ill Covid-19 patients, he added.

READ MORE:

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• Up to half can return to workplace from January; concession for unvaccinated may be removed