Vaccinated individuals may enjoy 'relaxed' measures in Singapore

Fully vaccinated residents in Singapore may soon reclaim some form of normalcy in their lives if the country achieves its goal of inoculating at least half of its population against COVID-19. Vaccination coverage currently stands at close to 40%, said Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung yesterday (July 7) at a taskforce press conference. The government expects to achieve 50% coverage by the end of July.

In a press release, the Ministry of Health (MOH) shared plans to introduce “differentiated safety management measures” for fully vaccinated persons. “This will allow individuals who have been fully vaccinated under the national vaccination program to participate in more community and economic activities,” MOH said.

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If the country achieves its targets by end July and the situation continues to be stable, individuals can look forward to the following perks:

• Having social gatherings in groups of eight people, instead of just five.
• You may participate in groups of eight fully vaccinated persons for higher-risk, indoor mask-off activities, such as restaurant dine-in.
• More individuals may be allowed to return to the workplace based on the percentage of total employees who are fully vaccinated.
• Attending larger events, such as at the cinema, MICE events, live performances, spectator sports and weddings. MOH may allow up to 500 fully vaccinated attendees at these events – double the current cap.

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It should be noted that the national tally only counts shots of either Pfizer-BioNTech/Cominarty and Moderna. Those who receive shots from Sinovac are not counted under the national targets due to insufficient data on its efficacy against the virus. Officials do, however, keep track of the number of residents who opt for Sinovac vaccines, which are offered at private healthcare institutions at a cost. Cominarty and Moderna shots are free of charge for eligible individuals.