The Expert Committee on COVID-19 Vaccination (EC19V) is considering to provide a booster vaccination for additional population groups beyond nursing homes, including workers in healthcare, the frontline and those in vulnerable settings.
Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong made the announcement during the Multi-Ministry Taskforce press conference on 2 October 2021.
“Given the increase in infections, we want to ensure that those who work in higher risk settings can continue to enjoy high levels of protection against infection. Therefore, EC19V is deliberating on expanding the booster programme to include our healthcare and frontline workers, and persons in other vulnerable sectors,” he said.
The Ministry of Health said it will await the formal recommendations of the expert committee, and that it stands fully ready to support this extension.
More details will be announced by EC19V when ready.
Daily cases have continued to rise. Based on the current trajectory, Mr Gan said that Singapore may cross 3,000 daily cases soon and may even start to see 5,000 cases daily around mid-October.
However, Director of Medical Services Kenneth Mak said that majority of these patients either have no symptoms or very mild symptoms.
“Presently, this group comprises about 98 per cent of all patients recovering from the COVID-19 infection. And this is because of our high vaccination rates in our population,” he said.
Professor Mak also urged all eligible but unvaccinated individuals to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
He said: “Overall, 1.67 per cent of unvaccinated people needed ICU care or died compared to 0.12 per cent of fully vaccinated persons. This is a nearly 14 times higher chance of an unvaccinated individual needing ICU or dying compared to a vaccinated person.
“So please, for those of you who still remain unvaccinated, please realise that you are endangering yourself and you do risk death if you do get infected with COVID-19.”
From 7 October 2021, prevailing border measures for incoming travelers will be determined based on the travelers’ recent travel history in the last 14 days instead of the existing 21 days.
The stay-home notice period will also be reduced to 10 days. This is in line with the shortening of quarantine period, which accounts for the shorter incubation period of the Delta variant.
From 1 November 2021, the Government will also require all Work Pass and Student’s Pass holders to be fully vaccinated before arriving in Singapore.
This will apply to those who are applying to enter Singapore via the Work Pass Holder General Lane and Student’s Pass Holder Lane.
