5 more countries for VTL scheme; land border with Malaysia may reopen
They include Indonesia, India; land border with Malaysia may reopen soon
Travellers from Indonesia, and possibly India, will be able to enter Singapore under a quarantine-free travel scheme from Nov 29, in a move that will rebuild air links with two of Changi Airport's top three markets.
Singapore is in talks with India to resume scheduled commercial flights between the two countries. The aim is to start two daily vaccinated travel lane (VTL) flights each from Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai by Nov 29. Currently, the only flights from Singapore allowed to carry passengers to India are government-chartered relief flights.
In addition, travellers from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be able to enter Singapore from Dec 6, in a further expansion of the VTL scheme.
Indonesia remains closed to general travel from Singapore. But travellers can travel without quarantine to and from India, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which had earlier opened their borders to vaccinated travellers from the Republic.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) announced the VTL expansion yesterday.
Transport Minister S. Iswaran said during a press conference by the Covid-19 multi-ministry task force that the countries Singapore will open up to are significant destinations.
For example, India accounted for about 7 per cent of passenger arrivals at Changi Airport in 2019.
Mr Iswaran said he hopes Indonesia will soon reopen its borders to travellers from Singapore, noting it has already opened its borders to visitors from 19 countries.
INITIAL
For a start, there will be two daily VTL flights between Singapore and Jakarta, and this will go up to four.
India, Indonesia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are classified by the Ministry of Health to have similar or lower Covid-19 incidence rates than Singapore and other VTL countries.
By Dec 6, Singapore will have a total of 21 VTLs. It had earlier announced VTLs with 16 other countries. Thirteen of these are already in effect, and three with Malaysia, Sweden and Finland are due to start on Nov 29.
Travellers entering Singapore under the VTL scheme do not have to serve a stay-home notice. Instead, they have to test negative for Covid-19 two days before departure for Singapore, as well as upon arrival.
With the addition of the new VTL countries, the total daily quota of arrivals via the scheme will be increased from 6,000 to 10,000.
Meanwhile, the land border between Singapore and Malaysia could reopen in a few weeks' time under a "VTL-like arrangement", in what could be a major step in easing the 20-month segregation of the two countries that has caused a lot of strain on families.
Without providing further details, Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong, who is co-chairman of the Covid-19 multi-ministry task force, yesterday said that discussions with Malaysia are progressing well.
"We are working to launch this soon, hopefully in a few weeks' time," he said of the phased opening of Woodlands Causeway and Tuas Second Link. "Singapore and Malaysia share close ties on many fronts, especially among our people."
This follows earlier announcements that a VTL between Changi Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport will open from Nov 29.
Singapore inks deal with Pfizer for its vaccines for kids aged 5 to 11
The Republic has signed a new supply agreement with Pfizer for its paediatric Covid-19 vaccines for children aged five to 11, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung yesterday.
The agreement also includes the delivery of these vaccines, and the Ministry of Health is in "constant contact" with Pfizer to fulfil these deliveries as soon as possible, said Mr Ong.
Singapore's director of medical services Kenneth Mak said last week that the paediatric doses for children use the same mRNA ingredient as the adult doses but a different buffer solution, so that they can be stored under more conventional cold chain requirements.
This will also make it easier to draw the required amount of vaccine from the vial.
Mr Ong noted that there has been a lot of interest from parents in children's vaccines following announcements last week that the Expert Committee on Covid-19 Vaccination will make a recommendation on whether to extend the Pfizer vaccine to children aged five to 11 in the second half of this month.
This came after the United States Food and Drug Administration recently authorised the use of the vaccine for this age group.
Mr Ong added that a vaccination trial conducted among local children is making progress, reiterating that the purpose of it is to "smoothen operations" once the roll-out is done at scale.
The KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) is overseeing it and planning to start recruitment of the first batch of participants, said Mr Ong.
More details on the study and registration information will be available from KKH's website and Facebook page by the end of this week.
Giving an update on children with multi-system inflammatory syndrome linked to Covid-19 infection, Associate Professor Mak said a sixth case of the condition has been detected.
The six children were aged from two months to 11 years old.
RECOVERED
He added that three of the six children have recovered and have gone home after being discharged from hospital. Of the remaining three, one had initially been admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit but responded well to treatment and has since been transferred to the general ward.
Prof Mak added that he may be discharged soon if his recovery continues uneventfully.
Another is being monitored in the high-dependency ward and is being treated for other concurrent infections, while the last child is in the general ward and is stable, said Prof Mak.
Until young children can get vaccinated, "it is important for us to manage their risk of getting Covid-19 through avoiding crowded places for them and minimising their mask-off interactions outside the home setting".
New Covid-19 ART kits to cost ‘well below’ $10: Minister
New, more affordable antigen rapid test (ART) kits for Covid-19 will be made available soon, with the kits expected to cost "well below" $10 and possibly below $5, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung.
He also said yesterday at the press conference by the multi-ministry task force tackling Covid-19 that distribution of free ART kits to all Singapore households has been progressing well.
The Straits Times reported on Oct 9 that each household would receive 10 ART kits in a distribution exercise from Oct 22 to next month.
Nonetheless, Mr Ong acknowledged that many people still need to purchase additional kits and have been asking for more affordable kits to be supplied.
"(The Ministry of Health) has recognised this and has been working with the HSA (Health Sciences Authority) to introduce more good-quality and affordable ART self-test kits in Singapore," he said.
One new self-test kit that has been authorised is called Flowflex. It was approved last week under the Pandemic Special Access Route (PSAR) for self-test use, said Mr Ong, a co-chair of the task force.
No date was given for when Flowflex would be available for purchase. Produced by American company Acon Laboratories, it is already available over the counter in the United States and Britain.
Two other ART kits that have met quality standards have been approved to undergo PSAR registration.
The Health Ministry said in a statement yesterday that the three kits would be priced significantly below the current prices of ART kits here.
Mr Ong also expressed hope that the kits would cost below $5 each, but said the pricing of kits remains a commercial decision. - THE STRAITS TIMES
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