S’pore and M’sia Working Towards Recognising Each Other’s Vaccine Certificates to “Facilitate Cross-Border Travel”

By
Shawn Ambrose
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Imagine: the year is 2035, and everyone in the world has finally been vaccinated.

A new virus, Boveed-26, is on the loose, but only seems to affect those who hate wearing masks but love pineapples on their pizza, so we’re not too bothered about it.

Unfulfilled travellers whose wanderlust has been unsatiated for over a decade hand their vaccination certificates to immigration officers and jet off merrily to foreign lands all over the globe.

Sounds pretty good, right? Well, if everything goes according to plan, we could once again cross the border for a short holiday, and we certainly won’t have to wait until 2035 to do so.

S’pore and M’sia Working Towards Recognising Each Other’s Vaccine Certificates to “Facilitate Cross-Border Travel”

Singapore and Malaysia will work towards recognising each other’s vaccine certificates to facilitate cross-border travel in the future, both countries said recently.

This was mentioned in a discussion between Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan and his Malaysian counterpart Hishammuddin Hussein in Putrajaya on Tuesday (23 Mar).

The operational details of the Reciprocal Recognition of Vaccine Certificate are still being finalised by both parties.

These include the detailed requirements, health protocols, and application process involved for entry and exit into Malaysia and Singapore.

Singapore and Malaysia also reaffirmed their commitment to vaccinate long-term residents in both countries, including Malaysians in Singapore and Singaporeans in Malaysia.

They hope to progressively restore cross-border travel for other groups of travellers as well, in addition to the Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL) and the Periodic Commuting Arrangement (PCA).

Before any major decision can be made, however, the COVID-19 situation in both countries must be assessed.

In similar news, Indonesia has proposed a travel corridor between Singapore, Batam, and Bintan.

Spate of COVID-19 Cases in Malaysian Schools

While the coronavirus surge in Malaysia seems to have peaked, the country isn’t out of the woods just yet.

A recent spate of COVID-19 cases among students and teachers in schools less than a month after reopening have sparked concerns among parents.

Malaysia is still reporting over 1,000 cases a day, which isn’t too bad considering they have a population of over 32 million.

As of 15 March, nearly 300,000 people in Malaysia have been vaccinated.

Its COVID-19 Immunisation Programme began on 24 Feb, and there are plans to accelerate proceedings.

Malaysia is expected to receive an additional one million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine by the end of this month, as it hopes to inoculate 80% of its population by February next year.

Vaccines in Malaysia will likely be made available to the general public in May.

Singapore, meanwhile, will offer the vaccines to the general population from April.

Feature Image: Nawadoln / Shutterstock.com

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Shawn Ambrose
Email: [email protected]