1 Week’s Grace for Unvaccinated Individuals to Enter Malls; More Info to Be Released Before 13 Oct

Yesterday, one of the announcements made by the multi-ministry task force seemed like a low-key declaration of war against unvaccinated individuals.

From 13 October, unvaccinated folks (except for those 12 and below) won’t be able to eat in hawker centres and coffee shops, and they won’t be able to enter shopping malls, too.

Of course the reason given wasn’t due to the authorities’ annoyance at these individuals’ beliefs. According to Minister Gan Kim Yong, these measures will “further protect those who are not fully vaccinated”.

“There have been a few settings frequently visited by a significant proportion of infected individuals, including those who are unvaccinated, who later on fell very ill. Such settings include (food and beverage) outlets, retail establishments and shopping centres.”

Stopping people from dining in isn’t difficult since we’ve been through it multiple times before, but stopping people from entering a mall?

That’s something new.

What if an unvaccinated person just want to head to a clinic in the mall? Or to the supermarket?

Which is why…

1 Week’s Grace for Unvaccinated Individuals to Enter Malls; More Info to Be Released Before 13 Oct

The new rules would kick in from 13 October 2021, but for the rules pertaining to shopping malls, there will be a week’s grace period.

The Ministry of Health, Ministry of Trade and Industry and Enterprise Singapore said in a joint statement that they are “aware of concerns raised by the public with regard to the need for some unvaccinated individuals to access medical and childcare related services in the malls. Provisions will be made to allow for access to these services.”

They said, “We would like to assure members of the public that the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and Enterprise Singapore (ESG) are working closely with mall operators to allow tenants, mall operators, and the public to familiarise themselves with the new processes and checks. To facilitate this, there will be a grace period of one week for VDS in malls to be implemented, from 13 October 2021 to 19 October 2021. MTI and ESG will provide more details in an advisory which will be issued before 13 October 2021.”

In other words, if you’re unvaccinated, wait for more details before 13 October.

Or go get your jab if you’re medically eligible to do so.

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