Different rules for vaccinated and unvaccinated in Singapore from today

[Andrew Reeve]

Singapore's population will begin living two lives starting today, when the country's tight prohibitions on social gatherings are eased. Daily life will resume for those who have been vaccinated, allowing them to eat in restaurants and participate in indoor sports classes or large events.

Those who have not been vaccinated - a significantly smaller percentage - will be required to take Covid-19 testing before participating in any of these activities. Without testing they will have to eat in pairs at hawker centres or coffee shops and be limit to considerably smaller groups.

According to Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on Friday, this method is to protect the unvaccinated because the effects of contracting the illness might be far more severe.

However, the policy has sparked controversy, with an online petition calling on the government to abandon such disparate policies receiving more than 10,000 signatures within the two weeks after it was launched. Some members of the public have denounced the restrictions as discriminatory, while others have expressed dissatisfaction with how they were communicated.

Mr Peter Heng, a 41-year-old lawyer, told The Straits Times, "You can look at it as protecting the unvaccinated, or as a heavy rod to punish them for declining the vaccine." "The same measure could be seen quite differently by different sectors of the public," he says. He refuses to be vaccinated, partially because he is concerned about side effects, but also because he believes in personal choice.

Ms Macalia Fong, who has severe medication allergies and has been advised by a specialized doctor to avoid getting vaccinated, adding that numerous restaurants have already indicated that unvaccinated guests will not be accepted, even if they are willing to pay for a test. Ms Fong, who is in her 60s and works for a multinational corporation, said, "It's not that I don't want to take the vaccine." "I'd like to defend myself as well. But I can't do it in these circumstances; I'd be putting myself in danger."

Such regulations can be contentious if those who stand to lose believe they are being unfairly punished, according to sociologist Tan Ern Ser of the National University of Singapore. Those who are ineligible for vaccination, as well as those who have real reasons to be concerned of probable side effects despite officials recommending that it is safe to get vaccinated - such as pregnant women.

Associate Professor Tan explained,"He hoped that the new rules would encourage those who have not yet got vaccinated to get the vaccine.

Source: The Straits Times

[BlueSphinx]

Singapore are normally always close on the ball and reacting quickly on international developments taking place, but with this discriminatory regulation for the unvaccinated they seem to have lost it.

# Those who had covid-19 earlier and recovered, have no need for the vaccine as they have far superior immunity than the vax-induced one.  On top of that taking the - unnecessary - jab when having had covid-19 already has a much larger risk of vaccine adverse-effects. 

# Some people's medical condition is such that they cannot take the jab for medical reasons, but are now ostracized from social gatherings that require vaccination.

# And of course the most compelling argument > The vaccines do NOT prevent the jabbed from getting infected and spreading the virus.  On the contrary, the jab suppresses their symptoms when they get infected making them unwitting super-spreaders.   

[Chaimai]

I applaud Singapore - and their action confirms that they are still very much "on the ball"..

 

I rarely see a bad decision coming out of Singapore  -  and this isn't one them.

[Faz]

I can clearly foresee other discriminatory actions taking place across all kinds of situations within various Countries and globally. International travel regulations being one of the worst offenders.

Those who choose not to be vaccinated will effectively be treated as lepers.

[BlueSphinx]

31 minutes ago, Faz said:

I can clearly foresee other discriminatory actions taking place across all kinds of situations within various Countries and globally. International travel regulations being one of the worst offenders.

Those who choose not to be vaccinated will effectively be treated as lepers.

Quite possible, the 'scapegoat' reflex is deeply engrained in the psyche of mankind when things go awry.

[Guest]

6 hours ago, Andrew Reeve said:

Singapore's population will begin living two lives starting today, when the country's tight prohibitions on social gatherings are eased. Daily life will resume for those who have been vaccinated, allowing them to eat in restaurants and participate in indoor sports classes or large events.

Those who have not been vaccinated - a significantly smaller percentage - will be required to take Covid-19 testing before participating in any of these activities. Without testing they will have to eat in pairs at hawker centres or coffee shops and be limit to considerably smaller groups.

According to Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on Friday, this method is to protect the unvaccinated because the effects of contracting the illness might be far more severe.

However, the policy has sparked controversy, with an online petition calling on the government to abandon such disparate policies receiving more than 10,000 signatures within the two weeks after it was launched. Some members of the public have denounced the restrictions as discriminatory, while others have expressed dissatisfaction with how they were communicated.

Mr Peter Heng, a 41-year-old lawyer, told The Straits Times, "You can look at it as protecting the unvaccinated, or as a heavy rod to punish them for declining the vaccine." "The same measure could be seen quite differently by different sectors of the public," he says. He refuses to be vaccinated, partially because he is concerned about side effects, but also because he believes in personal choice.

Ms Macalia Fong, who has severe medication allergies and has been advised by a specialized doctor to avoid getting vaccinated, adding that numerous restaurants have already indicated that unvaccinated guests will not be accepted, even if they are willing to pay for a test. Ms Fong, who is in her 60s and works for a multinational corporation, said, "It's not that I don't want to take the vaccine." "I'd like to defend myself as well. But I can't do it in these circumstances; I'd be putting myself in danger."

Such regulations can be contentious if those who stand to lose believe they are being unfairly punished, according to sociologist Tan Ern Ser of the National University of Singapore. Those who are ineligible for vaccination, as well as those who have real reasons to be concerned of probable side effects despite officials recommending that it is safe to get vaccinated - such as pregnant women.

Associate Professor Tan explained,"He hoped that the new rules would encourage those who have not yet got vaccinated to get the vaccine.

Source: The Straits Times

No different to NY, France, Italy...

Going global, and ppl buys in to it. Comply