Vaccination Approval Status and Passport

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Ms. Joan Pereira
MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC

Question No. 846

To ask the Minister for Health whether the Ministry will provide cards or letters to Singaporeans who, for medical reasons, are unable to receive their COVID-19 vaccinations, for them to show merchants and their staff who may disallow those without vaccination from entering their stores in future.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Ms. Foo Mee Har
MP for West Coast GRC

Question No. 858

To ask the Minister for Health whether a digital vaccine passport system will be used to enable local residents who have been vaccinated to return to pre-COVID-19 activities and be exempted from quarantine upon return from overseas.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim
MP for Sengkang GRC

Question No. 872

To ask the Minister for Health whether the approval of certain less commonly recognised COVID-19 vaccines for use in Singapore may compromise the value of our COVID-9 vaccine certification passport for travel to countries that do not recognise these vaccines.

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Ms Ng Ling Ling, 
MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC

Question No. 901

To ask the Minister for Health whether he can elaborate on the COVID-19 vaccination passport plan especially on how business, compassionate and leisure travels may be allowed under such a plan.

Oral Answer

1      The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) and the Expert Committee on COVID-19 Vaccination will only approve COVID-19 vaccines that have met our high safety, quality and efficacy standards for use here in Singapore. The effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, which are currently the only COVID-19 vaccines allowed for use in Singapore, are widely recognised internationally.

2      The Minstry of Health (MOH) will be releasing further information on how individuals can show their valid vaccination status when ready. We will make it easy and convenient to prove one’s vaccination status, including for persons without smart phones. The measures required for the unvaccinated are generally based on public health considerations to prevent infection and so would not distinguish between those who chose not to be vaccinated and those who were not medically eligible. Other vaccines may be available in the future for those who are not currently medically eligible and we will continue to evaluate scientific data and review the eligibility criteria accordingly.

3      Data on the duration of the vaccine’s protection and its effectiveness in preventing transmission, has been encouraging thus far. More data is needed to assess if changes to border measures such as testing and Stay-Home Notice (SHN) requirements can be made for vaccinated individuals. More information is also needed to assess if such measures will be affected by the different types of vaccines. We are actively discussing with international counterparts on the possible mutual recognition of vaccine certificates.  However, most countries have only just started vaccinations. Border measures will also take into account other factors such as the number of COVID-19 cases and the infection control measures implement in the source countries. Hence progress on cross-border recognition of vaccine certification may take some time. We will provide further updates when there is significant progress.

4      The COVID-19 vaccination programme remains voluntary. MOH encourages everyone who is medically eligible to get vaccinated.