Threshold for COVID-19 Vaccination Rates and Development of a COVID-19 Risk Index
Ministry of HealthSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns MP Gerald Giam Yean Song’s inquiry on the vaccination threshold for reopening and the feasibility of an aggregated COVID-19 risk index. Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung stated that defining a definitive threshold is unwise due to variant uncertainties and that an index is unnecessary because all indicators require dedicated attention. He established milestone targets to vaccinate half the population by late July and two-thirds by National Day, emphasizing the importance of protecting seniors. The Minister explained that these vaccination milestones will serve as the foundation for the roadmap to restore social activities and international travel. High vaccination rates remain the critical factor for achieving normalcy and transitioning to living with the virus safely.
Transcript
65 Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Health (a) what is the threshold for COVID-19 vaccination rates before a near-full reopening is possible; (b) what is the basis of this threshold; and (c) what consideration has the Government given towards the development of a COVID-19 risk index that aggregates indicators like the number of new infections and active cases, hospital capacity, vaccination rate, contact tracing efficiency and testing capacity, to provide guidance to policymakers on decisions to ease or tighten safe management measures.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: Vaccination is a critical factor in determining the pace of our transition to living normally with COVID-19. As no vaccine provides 100% immune protection and we continue to encounter more transmissible variants, there will continue to be uncertainties and surprises. It will therefore not be wise to define a definitive threshold for a full reopening.
It will also not be very useful to devise an index to guide our public health actions, because each aspect of the effort against COVID-19 is important, and deserves dedicated attention.
However, the more we get ourselves vaccinated, the better protected we are and the more we can achieve normalcy. We have set ourselves milestone targets, namely, getting half of population fully vaccinated by the second half of July, and two-thirds around National Day. We should aim for even higher vaccination rates beyond that, especially for our seniors. Our roadmap for restoring activities and travel will have to be planned around those milestones.