SINGAPORE: From Jan 1 only employees who have recovered from COVID - 19 or fully vaccinated within the past 270 days will be allowed to return to workplaces, the Ministry of Health MOH said on Saturday Oct 23 Unvaccinated employees will not be allowed to return to their workplaces unless they have tested negative for COVID - 19. These employees will bear the costs of testing.
The tests must be administered at MOH-approved providers and must be valid for the duration that the employees are required to be at their workplaces. Rapid antigen test results are valid for 24 hours.
Employers are strongly encouraged to give special consideration to employees who are medically ineligible for vaccines or pregnant.
For employees who are medically ineligible for all the vaccines under the national vaccination programme, including the Sinovac jab, they will be exempted from the vaccination requirement if they need to work on-site, said MOH and the Ministry of Manpower MOM Otherwise, this group of workers should be allowed to work from home if they are able to do so. Their absence from the workplace should not affect the assessment of their performance, said MOM in an updated advisory. They can also be redeployed to suitable jobs which can be done from home, the ministry added.
Work from home options should also be considered for pregnant women who are not vaccinated, said MOM.
Pregnant employees are also strongly encouraged to be vaccinated with the vaccines under the NVP national vaccination programme as soon as possible, said the advisory.
Authorities noted that among the unvaccinated pregnant women hospitalised with COVID - 19 in Singapore, 20 per cent required oxygen supplementation and 10 per cent needed the intensive care unit or high dependency care as of end-September.
In contrast, not a single vaccinated pregnant woman who contracted COVID - 19 has needed oxygen or was sent to ICU, said MOH and MOM.