Vaccinated or not: What you can do when COVID-19 measures ease from Aug 10

SINGAPORE: As more people get their COVID-19 jabs, Singapore is taking its next steps towards resuming more business and social activities – with greater easing of restrictions for people who are fully vaccinated.

About 70 per cent of the population is expected to have received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine by National Day on Aug 9, making Singapore one of the most highly vaccinated countries in the world, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung.

Restrictions will be eased in two steps – from Aug 10 and from Aug 19.

Here’s a snapshot of how the changes will affect you, depending on whether you are vaccinated or not.

WHO IS CONSIDERED VACCINATED?

You are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty or Moderna.

The two-week window also applies to any vaccine that has been approved under the World Health Organization’s emergency use listing.

This means people inoculated with Sinovac, Sinopharm or AstraZeneca vaccines are covered by the measures for vaccinated people.

The differentiated measures for vaccinated people also apply to people who have recovered from COVID-19, or those with a negative result from a pre-event COVID-19 test taken in the 24 hours before the expected end of the event.

I’M VACCINATED, WHAT CAN I DO?

Vaccinated people can gather in groups of up to five people from Aug 10. They can also receive five distinct visitors at home each day.

You can dine-in at food and beverage outlets, except hawker centres and coffee shops, in groups of up to five people who are all vaccinated.

Children under 12 who are not vaccinated can be in the group of five, provided they are all from the same household.

As for hawker centres and coffee shops, everyone can dine-in in groups of two – regardless of vaccination status.

From Aug 10, you can do indoor sports and exercise at gyms and fitness studios, with masks off. A maximum of 30 vaccinated people can participate, in groups of up to five people.

You can also patronise personal services that require masks to be taken off, such as facials, saunas and make-up services.

If you are planning a wedding reception, all attendees must be vaccinated. Up to 250 people will be allowed, with at most five to a table.

Larger events can be attended by groups of up to 500 vaccinated people. These include live performances, MICE events, sports events, marriage solemnisations, cinema screenings and worship services.

When measures are eased again from Aug 19, the participation limit for such larger events will be raised to 1,000 for vaccinated people.

I’M NOT VACCINATED, WHAT CAN I DO?

Unvaccinated people can also gather in groups of up to five and receive five distinct visitors at home daily – capped at two social gatherings a day.

But you are strongly advised to remain in groups no bigger than two.

If you want to dine outside, you can only do so at hawker centres and coffee shops, in groups of up to two. This “special concession” was made as hawker centres are open-air and naturally ventilated places, said the Health Ministry.

For larger events like live performances, MICE events, sports events, marriage solemnisations, cinema screenings and religious services, up to 50 people can be in attendance if any are unvaccinated.

That participation limit will stay the same in the second round of easing of measures from Aug 19.

REGARDLESS OF VACCINATION STATUS

Some of the changes taking place will apply to both vaccinated and unvaccinated people – such as dining-in at hawker centres and coffeeshops.

In schools, indoor and outdoor mask-on activities will be allowed in groups of up to five from Tuesday, regardless of vaccination status.

In secondary schools, junior colleges, Millennia Institute and special education schools with senior or secondary sections, in-person co-curricular activities (CCAs) will resume. Activities with external vendors or at external venues can also be held for up to 50 people.

In primary schools, students can resume outdoor mask-on unstructured play with their own class.

All cohorts, including non-graduating ones, can once again attend in-person centre-based lessons.

In institutes of higher learning, groups of five can resume indoor mask-on activities and all outdoor activities. However, indoor mask-off activities can only resume if all five people are vaccinated.

In gyms and fitness studios, indoor mask-on and all outdoor activities can continue with up to 50 people in groups of five.

As for the workplace, work-from-home will no longer be the default arrangement from Aug 19. Up to half of the employees who can work from home will be allowed to return to the workplace then. Social gatherings can also resume.