Skip to main content
Best News Website or Mobile Service
WAN-IFRA Digital Media Awards Worldwide 2022
Best News Website or Mobile Service
Digital Media Awards Worldwide 2022
Hamburger Menu

Advertisement

Advertisement

Singapore

PSD continues to engage 'very small proportion' of public officers eligible but unvaccinated against COVID-19

PSD continues to engage 'very small proportion' of public officers eligible but unvaccinated against COVID-19

Office workers cross a road in Singapore's financial district of Raffles Place on Sep 6, 2021. (File photo: CNA/Gaya Chandramohan)

SINGAPORE: The Public Service Division (PSD) said on Monday (Dec 27) night that the "vast majority", or about 99 per cent of public officers have already completed their vaccinations, with many in the process of receiving their booster dose.

This was in response to CNA's queries about the vaccination situation in the public service, and the steps that PSD would take to address the issue of unvaccinated individuals.

In its reply, PSD said that unvaccinated public officers who are medically ineligible for the mRNA vaccines are strongly encouraged to be vaccinated with the non-mRNA (Sinovac-CoronaVac) COVID-19 vaccine.

"For the very small proportion of officers who remain unvaccinated despite being medically eligible, we have been and will continue to engage them to discuss their concerns, and also advise them to consult their doctor if necessary," a PSD spokesperson told CNA.

The Public Service will continue to align its practices with the latest national guidelines and the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) advisory, the spokesperson added.

"The safety and health of all public officers remain our utmost priority. We will remain vigilant in ensuring that we further resume work at the workplace in a safe manner."

On Sunday, the Ministry of Health announced that the concession for unvaccinated employees to perform pre-event testing (PET) in lieu of being fully vaccinated will be removed from Jan 15.

This means that they will not be allowed to return to the workplace even if they tested negative for COVID-19. 

According to MOM's advisory, which was last updated on Dec 27, employers may allow them to work from home if such a working arrangement sufficiently meets operational needs.

But if the job require them to work on-site, employers can redeploy them to suitable roles which can be done from home; place them on no-pay leave on mutually agreeable terms; or terminate their employment (with notice) in accordance with the employment contract "as a last resort".

On Monday, Singapore reported 280 new COVID-19 cases. Separately, MOH's website also showed that 101 new Omicron variant infections were confirmed on Monday, comprising 79 imported cases and 22 local cases.

Source: CNA/ic(gr)

Advertisement

Also worth reading

Advertisement