Director of Medical Services at Ministry of Health, Associate Professor Kenneth Mak said the Expert Committee on Covid-19 Vaccination was deliberating on whether booster vaccinations are required for the general population or whether they should prioritise some group of people who have an increased risk of getting infections, even after vaccination. – File photo
SINGAPORE (Aug 19): Singapore is currently reviewing and finalising the recommendations as to whether or not Covid-19 booster vaccination doses are required, according to Director of Medical Services at Ministry of Health, Associate Professor Kenneth Mak.
“There are many facets to these discussions and conversations,” said Mak a virtual press conference of the republic’s Multi Ministry Taskforce (MTF) on Covid-19 here today.
“First of all, we want to ask ourselves whether booster vaccinations are required for the general population or whether we should prioritise some group of people who have an increased risk of getting infections, even after vaccination,” he said.
“So that is an issue that the Expert Committee on Covid-19 Vaccination is currently deliberating,” he added.
Mak noted that the recommendations were expected to come out soon.
Meanwhile, in its transition towards a Covid-19 resilient nation, Singapore will introduce Vaccinated Travel Lanes (VTL) starting with two countries – Germany and Brunei – from Sept 1, 2021.
Announcing this at the same MTF virtual press conference, the Singapore Minister of Transport S Iswaran said the republic needs to augment the current border measures with new modalities to reopen travel safely.
Iswaran noted that the republic has chosen to start with these two countries, based on overall risk and operational assessments.
The MTF also today introduced vaccination-differentiated border measures for travellers from countries or regions that have controlled the pandemic well and also vaccinated large parts of their population.
The Taskforce said the countries or regions will be classified in four categories, each with differentiated border measures, premised on a traveller’s 21-day travel history prior to their entry into Singapore.
Among others, Singapore will start allowing travellers to enter with just an On-Arrival Test for Category I; a seven-day Stay-Home Notice (SHN) for Category II; and a 14-day SHN for Categories III and IV. – Bernama