SINGAPORE - Individuals who received Covid-19 vaccinations overseas can visit designated clinics to verify their records for use in Singapore.
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said in a Facebook post on Wednesday (Aug 11) that they can go to a clinic listed by the Health Ministry at this website to kick-start the verification process.
They will have to show their overseas vaccination record and undergo a serology test to detect the presence of Covid-19 antibodies, said Mr Ong.
The record will be uploaded into the individual's HealthHub and TraceTogether apps if the serology test indicates that there are antibodies present.
Mr Ong said those who had the Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty or Moderna vaccine will get the record updated in about two days after their medical provider has submitted the details to the National Immunisation Registry.
Those who were given other vaccines on the World Health Organisation's emergency use listing, such as the Sinovac or AstraZeneca vaccine, will have their vaccination records reflected only on the HealthHub app for the time being. HealthHub is a portal that allows users to access their public health records and medical appointments online.
Mr Ong said that the authorities are working to upload these records to the TraceTogether app, which facilitates contact tracing, by the end of the month.
He said he was responding to some "top-of-mind questions" after Covid-19 restrictions were eased to allow dining in from Tuesday.
On a question about how individuals who are unable to be vaccinated can join their family for meals, Mr Ong said they can take a pre-event test at an approved provider. Each test costs about $20 and is valid for 24 hours.
"But that merely shows you are not likely to have the virus," Mr Ong added.
"It does not protect you from being infected. So please be careful."
He also said that children under 12 who cannot be vaccinated yet can dine out. But they must be seated with people from the same household and the group size must not exceed five people.
On what happens if someone uses a vaccination certificate from another person, Mr Ong said the authorities are aware that "such illegal practices are going on".
"The authorities will enforce against this and offenders will face severe penalty," he said.
"It is not worth it. Take a pre-event test if you have to attend a dinner or event."
People who had allergic reactions after the first dose of an mRNA vaccine will be invited to have the Sinovac inactivated virus vaccine, Mr Ong said.
They can also go to any vaccination centre to verify that they cannot receive a second dose because of an allergy, said Mr Ong. They will then receive an SMS invitation.
The current 200,000 doses of the Government's stock of Sinovac vaccine have already been allocated. New stocks are expected to arrive in the next four to six weeks.
Individuals who do not want any of the Sinovac or mRNA vaccines can wait for the Novavax protein-based Covid-19 vaccine. Supplies are expected to start arriving before the end of the year, said Mr Ong.
