S'poreans in US still facing issues over VTL jab cert format

After hearing about the launch of a vaccinated travel lane (VTL) between Singapore and the United States, Ms Andrea Ko arranged to fly home next month.

But the Singaporean was dismayed to find out that she still has to serve a stay-home notice (SHN) as her US vaccination records would not be recognised here.

Ms Ko, 22, received two doses of Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine in Oklahoma, but the state is not involved in the Smart Health Card system that Singapore checks for proof of vaccination.

Singaporeans told The Straits Times that the lack of standardisation among vaccination certificate issuers in the US continues to be a barrier for those planning to return under the VTL.

"I am a graduate student in the US and am hard-pressed for time, and I would not be able to return to Singapore if I had to serve my SHN as it wouldn't be worth it," Ms Ko wrote in an e-mail to her MP, Dr Maliki Osman, which she copied to ST.

"That one week (of SHN) is precious time (that could be) spent with friends and family."

Most of the countries on the VTL scheme have a unified national system for issuing vaccination certificates. But Canada and the US currently do not.

Canada is developing one, while the US relies on multiple issuers, such as individual state authorities, pharmacies, supermarket chains like Walmart, and various healthcare providers.

To ensure the authenticity of vaccination records, Singapore requires certificates to be issued in the Smart Health Card format by trusted issuers in the US and Canada. These issuers must also be under the CommonTrust Network (CTN) or Vaccination Credential Initiative, or a Canadian province where applicable.

But not all issuers fulfil these requirements.

Previously, travellers from the US could rely on a third-party service provider called VaccineCheck, which would independently verify their vaccination records and issue its own CTN-recognised Smart Health Card for a fee.

For a time, this was accepted as proof of vaccination for the VTL, and step-by-step guides to use this service were put up online in traveller forums and even by Singapore Airlines.

But VaccineCheck was dropped from CTN's list of trusted issuers on Oct 28, which meant its Smart Health Card is no longer recognised by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS).

This has left students like Ms Ko and Ms Natalie Koh in a bind.

Ms Koh was vaccinated through the University of Illinois in Chicago with two jabs of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, said her father, Mr Koh Ching Hong, in a Forum letter to ST.

She has documented proof, which is accessible through the state's public health database, but does not have a Smart Health Card.

Mr Koh said he had e-mailed the Singapore Government to explain the situation and provide documents, but twice received a standard reply that only the Smart Health Card format will be recognised for the VTL scheme.

When contacted, Singapore Airlines said it updated its communications to customers after VaccineCheck was no longer recognised by Singapore.

VaccineCheck chief executive Chris Nickerson told ST that it had "made many attempts" to contact CAAS and the Singapore Government on how it could become a recognised issuer of verified vaccination records.

Mr Nickerson added that he was told issuers of Smart Health Cards must be either directly connected to state vaccine registries in the US, or the ones providing the vaccines, such as pharmacies.

"We have over 2,000 travellers that have signed a petition to allow for additional US-based providers of verified health records for travel back to Singapore," he added.

For Ms Ko, her current options are to spend a good part of her trip home on SHN, or to forgo returning for another half a year.

"All my plans are up in the air. The only thing I can do is pray that (the Singapore authorities) will accept my proof of vaccination by the time I (am supposed to) fly in mid-December," she said.

ST has contacted the CAAS for comment.