Singapore to stick to its plan for reopening its borders despite Omicron threat

Despite global concerns about the Omicron variant, Singapore has signalled that it will stick to its plans for reopening its borders and easing COVID-19 restrictions as part of a broader plan to live with the virus. The move is bolstered by one of the highest COVID-19 vaccination rates in the world with nearly 100% of its eligible population fully vaccinated. Singapore's health ministry stated late Tuesday that 96% of the country's eligible population (those aged 12 and up) have received full COVID-19 vaccination.

Health officials in the country believe that the country's extremely high immunisation rate will provide a robust protection against the recently discovered Omicron variant, according to various media reports. Unlike Japan and Israel, which quickly closed their borders to all arriving passengers, Singapore authorities have adhered to their plans of reopening the land border with Malaysia for vaccinated individuals while relaxing social restrictions. Singapore's strategy is part of a larger plan to treat COVID-19 as a pandemic disease, which acknowledges that reducing instances to zero in the long run would be practically impossible and extremely disruptive, according to Bloomberg.

Booster Dose administered to 26% of country's eligible population

After successfully reversing the delta variant spike, which resulted in primarily mild or asymptomatic cases, officials in the country are cautiously optimistic about their 'living with the virus' strategy, according to the Associated Press. Booster vaccination dosage has been administered to 26% of the country's eligible population. Due to concern over the new variant, Singapore is aiming to accelerate the delivery of booster doses.

Bloomberg reported, citing an associate professor of immunology at Duke-NUS Medical School, Ashley St. John, as saying, "there is no evidence that this variant should cause panic or require substantially different procedures to manage and contain. I don't think it's realistic to expect that omicron can be contained easily. It is likely to spread substantially in the world in spite of many measures including testing and restricted movement."

Experts argue that one of the world's highest vaccination rates, attempts to shield its healthcare system from outbreaks of infection, and its already cautious reopening schedule are critical to Singapore's capacity to postpone immediate harsh curbs. When the highly transmissible delta variant made COVID-19 elimination all but impossible, the Southeast Asian economy, which is heavily reliant on trade and transportation, changed to a strategy of living with the virus. It was the first nation to do so among a few Asia-Pacific countries that had previously attempted to contain the virus.

Singapore recently allowed people from different families to dine together in groups of five at restaurants. It has also steadily expanded its vaccinated travel lane programme to new nations before delaying those with Qatar, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia as a precaution due to omicron concerns. Nonetheless, authorities in Singapore appear to be taking no chances, as the country opted on Tuesday to increase COVID-19 testing at the borders.

(With inputs from agencies)

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