Making Vaccination Compulsory for All Medically Eligible Persons
Mr Murali Pillai: To ask the Minister for Health having regard to his press statement on 20 October 2021 that persons who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 are causing the healthcare system to be under serious stress, whether the Ministry considers it is now time to make it compulsory for all medically eligible persons to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and receive booster shots so as to relieve the pressure on the healthcare system and allow for a faster reopening of the economy.
Minister Ong Ye Kung: …Mr Murali Pillai and Mr Yip Hon Weng had asked about mandating COVID-19 vaccination. Making COVID-19 vaccination compulsory is a significant move and should be carefully considered. Factors that need to be considered are the COVID-19 situation in Singapore, vaccination coverage of the whole population and amongst vulnerable groups, international practice, and availability of fully registered COVID-19 vaccines, bearing in mind that current approval is still under pandemic special access.
Introduction of vaccination-differentiated safe management measures (VDS) and workplace requirements had allowed fully vaccinated persons to participate in more community and economic activities, while protecting persons who are not vaccinated. This has led to more coming forward to get vaccinated. We have also made progress in reducing the numbers of unvaccinated among our elderly population from 200,000 in July this year to fewer than 70,000 currently. For those who remain unvaccinated, we will continue to reach out and provide detailed information on the benefits of vaccination against the risk of disease to address their concerns and convince them to be vaccinated. We take note of the Members’ suggestion, that perhaps the unvaccinated should also be responsible for part of their medical bills should they be infected. We have been receiving similar suggestions from members of public, and will consider this carefully. We should be clear that the objective is not for collecting revenue, and cost of treatment will still be heavily subsidised. Instead, this serves as a strong signal for the unvaccinated to get their jabs.
MOH continues to strive to expand the portfolio of COVID-19 vaccines that we bring in under the NVP, so that there is a suitable vaccine for everyone. We strongly encourage all medically eligible persons to take the vaccine and booster once they are eligible.
