Singapore will resume entry approvals for work pass holders and their dependants with travel history to higher risk countries/ regions as the country relaxes its Covid-19 restrictions.
The country’s multi ministry task force (MTF), in a briefing on 6 Aug, said that eligible work pass holders and their dependants must be fully vaccinated before arrival in Singapore will also be subjected to the prevailing health protocols in Singapore.
The definition of a fully vaccinated person is that the person must have taken the full regiment of any vaccine on the World Health Organisation Emergency Use List (WHO EUL).
This includes the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines used in the national vaccination program, as well as the Sinovac-CoronaVac, Sinopharm, Janssen, AstraZeneca, and Covisheld vaccines.
The MTF, however, did not specify at the briefing exactly how border agencies were going to verify the vaccination status of overseas travellers, given that there is yet to be an international vaccine passport.
Furthermore, from Aug 20, 11.59pm, all fully vaccinated travellers from Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy, Norway, the Republic of Korea (ROK), and Switzerland may be able to apply to opt-out of dedicated SHN facilities and serve their 14-day stay home notice (SHN) at their respective places of residence or other suitable accommodation if they fulfil certain criteria.
Applications to opt-out will be considered if the vaccinated traveller has remained in the above-mentioned countries, in the last consecutive 21 days prior to arriving in Singapore.
They also must be occupying their respective places of residence or other suitable accommodation alone, or only with household members who are also vaccinated persons serving SHN with the same travel history and duration of SHN.
All other travellers from the aforementioned countries/regions must continue to serve the SHN in a dedicated SHN facility.
Further travel as vaccination rates increase
Moving forward, MTF co-chair Ong Ye Kung said that as a small economy, international connectivity is vital.
He noted that Singapore has allowed SHN-free travel for selected safe places like China, Brunei, New Zealand, and expressed the hope that these countries will reciprocate the opening.
Ong also highlighted that the reverse is also true, because some countries such as the United States, and countries in the EU allow Singapore based travelers to go into their countries without quarantine and so if we reciprocate the arrangement. We will also open up travel corridors.
He says for these countries, they have now achieved a high level of vaccination and have reduced their infection rates very significantly.
As such, the Transport Ministry is planning to open up vaccinated travel lanes with “selected countries”, where fully vaccinated individuals can travel to and from Singapore and a selected partner country without SHN, and replace the SHN with frequent testing.
MOT will announce the details when ready, Ong said.
