Travelling Might Not be Normal Even When Everyone in S’pore is Vaccinated

I know what you’re thinking.

With the Covid-19 vaccination in Singapore going full-force, it won’t be long before we can travel again, right?

TravelAddict65: Right?!

Wrong.

Travelling Might Not be Normal Even When Everyone in S’pore is Vaccinated

Even after the whole of Singapore is vaccinated, overseas travel will not bounce back to normal, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong revealed.

That’s because overseas travel, as the name implies, depends on the global Covid-19 situation.

Even if things change, it’ll be progressively, and “bilaterally” (with the agreement of both sides), he added.

“This is a bit like a circuit breaker. It’s not going to be, flip a switch and (it’s) free for everybody to travel.”

Singapore Not Ready To Change The Rules (Yet)

As mentioned in another article, there are still many unknowns about the new vaccine, the least of which is whether it’s safe for particular subsets of the Singapore population or if it grants vaccinated people immunity from becoming carriers.

Currently, Singapore is still studying the vaccines and isn’t ready to change the rules yet, Education Minister Lawrence Wong said.

That’s not the end, though.

Mr Wong also estimates that Singapore will remain in “pandemic mode” for the next 12 to 18 months, meaning we’ll have to keep masks as part of our fashion for quite some time.

Pointing out that global air travel will likely recover fully in 2024, the Covid-19 pandemic is likely a “four-year affair”, he added.

This means Singapore, and people in Singapore, have to be realistic about the impact of Covid-19 on the air travel and aviation industry, as well as those sectors that are dependent on it.

The pandemic could pass, and the economy could recover, in four to five years time, Mr Wong concluded.

Not Impossible That Another Pandemic Could Occur

For those who are wondering how bad it’ll get if we have another pandemic while going through one, it’s already happened.

After all, we’re not just fighting against Covid-19, but Dengue as well.

Mr Gan added that it’s not “impossible” that another pandemic could happen while we pull through the Covid-19 pandemic.

The best thing we can do now is to keep and maintain the personal hygiene habits that we’ve cultivated over the past year

Meanwhile, the Covid-19 vaccination in Singapore is going well, and it was revealed that more will be done to get everyone in Singapore vaccinated.

You can read more about that here.

Featured Image: Fedor Selivanov / Shutterstock.com