Those who received two doses of Sinovac or Sinopharm vaccines must take a third dose by Dec 31 to retain fully vaccinated status
Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) has issued a reminder for individuals who received two doses of the Sinovac or Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines to take their third dose in order to be considered fully vaccinated starting January 1, 2022. The MOH has been sending SMS notifications to 70,000 eligible people since December 1, advising them to receive the third dose three months after their second jab.
To maintain their fully vaccinated status from January 1 onwards, individuals are encouraged to get their third dose before December 31, 2021, provided that three months have passed since their second dose. Those who have not received their third dose by this deadline will have their vaccination status changed to “vaccination in progress”, which will subject them to additional safe management measures and workplace restrictions. From next year, unvaccinated or partially vaccinated individuals will no longer be permitted to enter venues that require a negative pre-event test result.
This reminder follows the announcement in October that the Sinovac-CoronaVac vaccine would be included in Singapore’s national vaccination programme as a three-dose regimen. The MOH emphasised that, unless medically ineligible, individuals who received the Sinovac or Sinopharm vaccines are strongly recommended to receive an mRNA vaccine as their third dose. However, if this is not possible, they should complete their vaccination series with the same vaccine they received for the first two doses.
Additionally, for individuals who experienced an allergic reaction to the first mRNA vaccine dose and received the Sinovac vaccine for the second dose, they should complete the third dose of Sinovac 28 days after the second dose to maintain their fully vaccinated status.
For children born in December 2009, who will turn 13 next year, the MOH has announced a grace period until March 1, 2022, for them to complete their vaccinations. This extension allows them sufficient time to get fully vaccinated before they are subject to vaccination-differentiated measures for venue entry and activities.
Exemptions from the vaccination requirements apply to those who have recovered from COVID-19, are medically ineligible for vaccines, or are children aged 12 and below.
