Debated in Parliament on 1 Mar 2021.
Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for Transport (a) what is the progress on reaching a bilateral agreement with countries to give recognition to the COVID-19 vaccination taken by the respective residents travelling to each other's country; and (b) whether Singapore will only accept vaccines that have been approved by the Health Sciences Authority and residents that have taken such approved vaccines before they can travel to Singapore.
Vaccination has given hope that countries may be able to reduce the risk of infection and hence, step down border measures such as testing, quarantine and Stay-Home Notice (SHN) requirements, and progressively restore international air travel in a safe manner. However, for that to happen, we need more scientific data, data that needs to be available as a basis of study, so that health authorities can determine the extent to which vaccines can reduce the likelihood of an individual infecting others. Until then, it is premature to decide if border measures can be reduced for vaccinated individuals, and whether for purposes of implementing border measures, there should be differentiation between vaccines.
Notwithstanding this, a no-regret step to start working on now, is a system of mutual recognition of vaccine certification between countries. Singapore has put in place a system of digital vaccine certification that is tamper-proof and verifiable. This system relies on HealthCerts, a set of digital standards for issuing digital COVID-19 test result certificates developed by GovTech and the Ministry of Health. We are in discussions at the International Civil Aviation Organization and with various countries on the mutual recognition of such certificates. Such bilateral consultations and discussions will take some time.
Over the past year, we have been able to allow some travel to take place, without requiring vaccinations as a condition for entry into Singapore, so in answering the Member's question, we have no plans to now impose the requirement that: unless you are vaccinated, you cannot travel. No plans to impose that requirement. Instead, we continue to use test and SHN requirements to ensure that travellers do not bring the virus into our communities. I will elaborate more on these plans in the upcoming Committee of Supply for the Ministry of Transport.
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