Singapore (CU)_ Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong stated in a television interview that Singapore is planning to reopen its borders for travel by the end of 2021 as more countries scale up vaccination campaigns against Covid-19 infections. While the country has effectively banned vacation travel, it has implemented some business and official-related travel programs. Singapore is also negotiating with other countries about mutual acceptance of vaccine certificates.
PM Lee said, “I hope if that many countries can have substantial proportions of their populations vaccinated by later this year, we will be able to have the confidence and to have developed the systems to open up our international borders to travel safely again. Hopefully by the end of this year or next year, the doors can start to open, if not earlier”. With only a few new local cases, the country successfully controlled the Covid-19 situation and also began its vaccination drive using the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.
The nation with 5.7 million population had inoculated more than 611,000 doses of vaccines as of March 8, which is a much slower rate than larger countries. However, it was stated that the country intends to vaccinate all by the end of the year. Lee clarified that since there were few local cases, the city-state could take its time convincing its people to get the vaccine. Some people are reluctant to have the vaccines because of the low risk of infection and issues about potential side effects from vaccines as they were manufactured in a short time span.
Singapore has also obtained the Sinovac Biotech vaccine from China, which is awaiting approval. The PM stated that Singapore is testing the vaccine and will use it if it meets safety and efficacy requirements. Following the severe impacts of the trade tensions between the US and China in the previous year, the nation’s open economy experienced its terrible recession in 2020 as a result of the pandemic.
