People Vaccinated Against COVID-19 Will Be Given ‘Some Consession’ When Overseas Travel Resumes in Singapore
People vaccinated against COVID-19 will be given “some concession” when travelling or returning to Singapore, co-chair of the COVID-19 multi-ministry task force Gan Kim Yong said on Thursday (Jun 24).
This could mean a shortened stay-home notice when vaccinated travellers come into Singapore, said co-chair of the task force Lawrence Wong. It could also mean that the stay-home notice is “waived entirely” and replaced with COVID-19 tests, he added.
The guidelines will depend on the country visited, and will take into account their “risk profiles” and infection rates, said Mr Wong.
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“These are the potentially revised guidelines that will apply to vaccinated persons. We are still working through them, and we will announce them when we are ready,” he added.
He said these revised guidelines for vaccinated travellers “may encourage more people to be vaccinated”.
Overseas travel can resume when Singapore reaches “higher rates of vaccination”, said Mr Gan.
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“Come August, we expect about two-thirds would have been vaccinated and protected from serious illness, but two-thirds will still not be enough.
“We need to continue to press on with vaccination to achieve an even higher rate of coverage. Then we will be able to resume the higher-risk activities, which we have suspended over the last one and half years, maybe with some capacity limits imposed,” said Mr Gan, who is also the Minister for Trade and Industry.
Mr Gan added that the vaccination rates of other countries will also matter when deciding on travel arrangements.
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“If they have a very high vaccination rate, it gives us greater confidence to open up travel channels with them. If their cases are low and they are able to control the infection well, it will also give us greater confidence to open up with them,” said Mr Gan.
“But if their vaccination coverage is low and their cases are still rising very rapidly, even if we have a very high vaccination rate, we need to continue to be careful in allowing travellers from that particular destination.”
When asked if a vaccination “target” needed to be reached before air travel can resume, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said the milestone is for two-thirds of the population to be vaccinated, but it is “actually not enough”.
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“So as to what kind of milestone will be tagged to what kind of opening, and … shift in practices, I think, it will be part of the roadmap that we are preparing and working out,” he said.
“But I would caution this, that there is still a lot of unknowns. This enemy is full of curveballs, always thrown at us. So we are really crossing the river, one stone at a time.”
SOURCE
Author: Cindy Co
Publication: Channel News Asia
Title: People vaccinated against COVID-19 will be given ‘some concession ‘when overseas travel resumes: Gan Kim Yong
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