Why is mask-wearing required for healthcare facilities, residential care homes and public transport?
Mask wearing is an effective way of minimizing the risk of disease transmission. Healthcare, residential care, medical and public transport are essential services frequently used by vulnerable persons, and there is need for us to take extra precaution in these areas to ensure vulnerable persons remain protected.
How will the Government check and enforce the community safe management measures? What are the penalties for individuals who flout the rules? Who can serve these enforcement penalties?
These measures have been provided with the force of law and are enforceable across sectors and against individuals and businesses. This will be enforced strictly, for the protection of everyone.
Enforcement officers will be on the ground, and egregious breaking of these rules will lead to enforcement action under the Infectious Disease Act, the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act or other relevant laws. For instance, under the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act, the penalties for breaches are imprisonment for up to a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding $10,000 or both, and for a second offence up to a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine not exceeding $20,000 or both.
There have been cases where frauds were acting as Safe Distancing Ambassadors. How do I verify if the enforcement officer is indeed appointed by the Government? Will I be expected to make payment for any penalties upfront?
Safe-Distancing Ambassadors are deployed by various government agencies to help and guide businesses and individuals to comply with the safe distancing measures. They do not impose fines.
Enforcement Officers will not collect fines on the spot, from individuals and businesses who have contravened these rules. The penalties for breaches will be issued to individuals or businesses in the form of composition letters which will state the relevant follow-up actions required.
What are the settings with Vaccination-Differentiated Safe Management Measures (SMMs)?
From 29 April 2022, VDS will be removed from all settings, except for:
a. Events with >500 participants at any one time;
b. Nightlife establishments where dancing among patrons is one of the intended activities; and
c. Food and beverage (F&B) establishments, including restaurants, coffee shops and hawker centres.
These are settings which are assessed to pose higher risks of transmission due to factors such as large crowds and unmasked activities. Please refer to the Vaccination-Differentiated SMMs (VDS) information sheet for more information.
Why is there a need to implement vaccination-differentiated SMMs in the first place?
The differentiated SMMs for vaccinated individuals have been implemented since 10 August 2021. We have eased measures for those who are fully vaccinated, because they have good protection against infection and are at lower risk of becoming dangerously ill if infected with COVID-19. Therefore, there is no need to have such strict measures applied to a vaccinated person or groups of vaccinated persons. Unvaccinated individuals need to be more prudent in interacting with larger groups of people, as they are at higher risk of getting infected and becoming severely ill.
Unvaccinated children aged 12 years and below may currently access settings with vaccination-differentiated SMMs. Our focus now is to ensure our children are well protected by allowing those aged five to 11 years to be vaccinated using the paediatric doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech/Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine. However, accompanying parent(s) should ensure that the children comply with other SMMs as children remain vulnerable to potential infection.
As we progressively transition toward living with COVID-19, we will continue to review the feasibility of lifting VDS.
Why are unvaccinated individuals not allowed to dine-in at F&B establishments and participate in events with more than 500 participants?
In general, fully vaccinated individuals have good protection against severe illness, and are also less likely to infect others as compared to unvaccinated individuals. Unvaccinated individuals will however need to exercise tighter safe management measures to protect themselves and those around them.
Food and beverage (F&B) settings and events with a large number of attendees are settings which are assessed to pose higher risks of transmission due to factors such as large crowds and unmasked activities. Hence, while we have reduced the coverage of vaccination-differentiated SMMs (VDS), these settings continue to be subjected to VDS.
As we progressively transition toward living with COVID-19, we will continue to review the feasibility of lifting VDS.
What are the details of vaccination-differentiated SMMs?
The following categories of individuals are allowed to enter premises or participate in activities where vaccination-differentiated SMMs are required:
a. Fully vaccinated, i.e. has received the appropriate regimen of World Health Organisation Emergency Use Listing (WHO EUL) vaccines (e.g. Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty, Moderna, AstraZeneca-SKBio, Serum Institute of India, Janssen, Sinopharm, Sinovac-CoronaVac, and Covaxin and Novavax) and had their vaccination records ingested in MOH’s national IT systems.
b. Recovered from COVID-19, i.e. 180 days starting from the day of first positive Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) or positive ART result obtained at approved test providers in Singapore; or a positive serology test result attributable to infection and not past vaccination.
c. Children who are 12 years old and below, i.e. born in or after the year 2010.
In addition, persons who are medically ineligible to receive mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, Sinovac-CoronaVac and Novavax/Nuvaxovid COVID-19 vaccines are eligible for the vaccination-differentiated SMMs.
For more details, please refer to the information sheet here.
Who are considered medically ineligible to receive mRNA COVID-19 vaccines under the National Vaccination Programme (NVP)?
Only the following persons are certified to be medically ineligible for the COVID-19 vaccines under the National Vaccination Programme (NVP):
a) Persons aged 18 years (based on date of birth) and above who were unable to complete the vaccination regime due to allergies or a previous severe adverse reaction to all NVP vaccines, that currently includes the following: (1) any mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, (2) Sinovac-CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine and (3) Novavax/Nuvaxovid COVID-19 vaccines; or
b) Persons below 18 years of age who were unable to complete the vaccination regime due to allergies or a previous severe adverse reaction to a previous dose of a mRNA COVID-19 vaccine; or
c) Persons with/ under the following condition(s)/ treatment:
- Transplant within past 3 months; and/or
- Aggressive immunotherapy; and/or
- Active cancer on treatment.
(The above condition or treatment is time-limited and the medical ineligibility status will expire upon reaching the date indicated by the certifying doctor. The person may be further reviewed by their doctors as necessary.)
If I am medically ineligible for the COVID-19 vaccines under the National Vaccination Programme (NVP), what document(s) do I need to show to be eligible for vaccination-differentiated safe management measures (VDS)?
You may go back to the General Practitioner (GP) clinic, public or private healthcare institutions that diagnosed the allergy/ severe adverse reaction to get the certification or visit any GP clinic, public or private healthcare institutions requesting to be certified as medically ineligible, subject to meeting the criteria above. You will be issued a standard doctor-certified memo which you can present along with a government-issued photo identification card to enter venues and participate in activities where VDS are implemented. Sample of the memo can be found in Annex B of https://go.gov.sg/vdsmminfo.
If you have specified medical conditions (transplant within last three months, on aggressive immunotherapy and active cancer treatment), we strongly recommend that you avoid places where you will be close contact with others or where the risk of exposure to infection is high. You are extremely vulnerable to severe adverse outcome if you get infected with COVID-19. For your protection and safety, please discuss with your attending doctor when you would be able to get vaccinated. Your attending doctor should also issue your memo indicating the grounds of your medical ineligibility.
To facilitate eligibility checks for VDS, TraceTogether and HealthHub app will be enhanced to display that you are “Exempted from Vaccination”.