Singapore’s Ministry of Health says front-line workers in selected high-risk sectors, including healthcare, food and beverage, and the Public Service, must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or take an antigen rapid test (ART) twice a week.
The Ministry said the tests would be subsidised only if the unvaccinated worker was medically ineligible for vaccines.
The Ministry said its ‘vaccinate or regular test’ regime had three aims, to expand Singapore’s vaccine coverage even further; to pick up infections early; and to mitigate the risk of transmission.
In a statement, the Ministry said it wanted to concentrate on three work settings.
“The first is the healthcare and eldercare sectors, as well as settings with children aged 12 and below,” the Ministry said.
“This protects vulnerable segments of the population,” it said.
“Second, those working in sectors that involve customer interactions in higher-risk, mask-off settings.”
The Ministry said those sectors included food and beverage establishments, gyms and fitness studios, and personal care services.
The third work setting was the entire Public Service, including the police and military.
However, the Ministry noted that more than 94 per cent of Public Servants were already vaccinated.
It said the October deadline should be sufficient for all these workers to receive their jabs.
“We strongly encourage all employers to facilitate vaccination for their employees.
A fully-vaccinated workforce ensures a safe workplace and safe environment for everyone,” it said.
“We will continue to closely monitor our vaccination rates and review the need to include other sectors in the future,” the Ministry said.
Singapore, 9 August 2021
