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In a televised address on Monday (December 14), Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke about the progress Singapore has made since the first Covid-19 case was detected here, the brighter outlook vaccines offer, and what must be done to overcome the final stretch.
Here is the full text of their comments.
My fellow Singaporeans, we are reaching a full year since our first case of Covid-19.
It has been a year of uncertainty, full of ups and downs, full of anxiety and trepidation. But a lot has changed in recent months.
In March and April, we peaked at more than 1,000 cases a day. Now, most days, we have no cases of local broadcasts.
When the pandemic started, we were concerned about whether there would be enough supplies in supermarkets. Today, supermarket shelves are full and shopping is quiet and uneventful.
Parents were concerned then whether their children should go to school, but we kept the school year intact, the CCAs resumed, and the graduating students finished their exams and are awaiting their results.
We will not forget the two breaker months in April and May. But today life is much more normal. We go to work, go out to dinner, and meet up with friends, although in groups of no more than five.
How could we control things?
It has been a tremendous effort and a bit of luck. Our measures were difficult for everyone, but they worked. Singaporeans showed resilience and took it easy.
Our economy took a major hit, but we did not allow it to collapse. Despite the global economic dislocation, the majority of our workers kept their jobs.
Now, our defenses against Covid-19 are much stronger.
We have constantly developed our testing capabilities and procedures. We entered routine tests in lists of higher risk groups. We started using rapid antigen tests to safely resume larger meetings and events.
We also strengthened our contact tracing capabilities, for example by expanding our SafeEntry and TraceTogether programs, and distributing TraceTogether tokens.
We get used to inconvenient restrictions and find ways to get on with life. We took care of ourselves, reminding ourselves that we had to respect a safe distance, wear masks, see a doctor if he was sick, etc.
I am very grateful that Singaporeans have followed the spirit, and not just the letter, of the rules. We stood together, we kept our guard, and we did not allow ourselves to become complacent over time.
With everyone’s full support, our enhanced safeguards worked and we were able to gradually ease our restrictions, and we can be proud of how far we’ve come.
Thanks to your efforts, we are now ready to move on to the next phase.
Phase 3 will begin in two weeks, on December 28, so we will end the year with good news.
The ministerial working group will explain the details immediately after my transmission.
We will ease capacity limits in public places like shopping malls and attractions, and in places of worship. A significant change is allowing groups of up to eight to meet, up from the current maximum of five.
So eight people can have dinner together or visit someone’s home. This will make it easier to hold family gatherings during the holiday period.
Please understand that even as we enter phase 3, the battle is far from won.
The Covid-19 virus has not been eradicated. There is a long way to go. Around the world, the pandemic continues to rage. Many countries are experiencing a second, third or even fourth wave of infection, with a record number of daily cases. International borders remain largely closed.
But trade and travel are our lifeblood, and the longer our own borders are closed to travelers, the greater the risk that we will permanently lose as an international hub and consequently damage our livelihoods.
Therefore, our only option is to reopen our borders in a controlled and secure way. As we do so, we will see more imported cases. And there will be some risk that these imported cases will spread to the community.
We have already had some cases recently. An airport staff, who probably came into contact with infected passengers. A marine worker who contracted the virus after boarding ships for repair and resupply work.
This is a calculated risk that we have to accept. But the government will take all precautions and do everything possible to prevent imported cases from causing a new outbreak.
At the same time, Singaporeans must keep their guard up, because the virus will most likely continue to quietly circulate within our community. Each of us must do our part.
Of course, stick to the higher limits and reconnect with friends and family, but don’t give up your vigilance and caution mindset.
This is not the time to relax and let your guard down, or to throw a big party, imagining that the problem is gone.
Going from phase 2 to phase 3 is a careful and calibrated move.
We are easing the restrictions in a controlled way, so that we can keep the Covid-19 situation stable and take further steps later. Therefore, it is vital that you remain cautious and vigilant, continue to cooperate with the government, and adhere to the rules and restrictions that will apply in phase 3.
How long will we have to continue like this? It can be for quite some time, possibly a year or more.
A key factor is how soon Covid-19 vaccines will be available.
The government has been working quietly behind the scenes, since the beginning of the pandemic, to ensure access to vaccines. This was not a simple exercise.
More than 200 candidate vaccines were being developed, and not all would be successful. We started talking to drug companies early to understand the science and identify promising candidates and vaccines that are likely to hit production sooner.
We set aside more than a billion dollars. We made several bets to sign advance purchase agreements and make advance initial payments for the most promising candidates, including Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Sinovac.
We made arrangements with pharmaceutical companies to facilitate their clinical trials and drug development in Singapore, and we attracted some to establish vaccine manufacturing capabilities here.
We also support local efforts to develop a vaccine. This gave our own scientists and researchers the opportunity to do cutting edge work. It was also insurance, in case the global supply chain was disrupted.
In this way, we created a diversified portfolio of options to ensure that Singapore would be at the front of the line for vaccines and not last in line.
Ensuring early access to vaccines was a government-wide effort. Many agencies and public officials, led by the head of the civil service, participated in this critical mission.
I congratulate you for your good work. They are among the legion of unsung heroes who have helped us through this crisis.
As you would have read in the news, the first vaccines are now going into production, and I am very pleased to be able to tell you that after studying the scientific evidence and data from clinical trials, the Health Sciences Authority, HSA, has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for pandemic use.
The first shipment should arrive at the end of this month, making Singapore one of the first countries to obtain this vaccine. We also expect other vaccines to arrive in Singapore in the coming months.
If all goes according to plan, we will have enough vaccinations for everyone in Singapore by the third quarter of 2021.
The Ministry of Health has created a committee of doctors and experts to recommend a vaccination strategy to us.
The committee has proposed that our entire adult population be vaccinated, but that vaccinations be voluntary.
Priority will be given to those most at risk: healthcare workers and front-line personnel, as well as the elderly and the vulnerable.
From then on, the committee proposes to progressively vaccinate the rest of the population and cover all those who want to be vaccinated by the end of next year.
The Government has accepted these recommendations. I have personal confidence in our experts.
My cabinet colleagues and I, including the older ones, will get vaccinated early. This is to show them, especially older people like me, that we believe vaccines are safe.
We have decided that vaccinations are free for all Singaporeans and for all long-term residents currently here.
So I highly recommend that you also get vaccinated when the vaccine is offered. Because when you get vaccinated, you’re not just protecting yourself, you’re also doing your part to protect others, especially your loved ones.
The more we vaccinate, the more difficult it will be for the virus to spread and the safer we will all be as a society.
Vaccines will support our recovery in more ways than one.
As a global aviation hub, we play a crucial role in the transportation of vaccines around the world.
Vaccines require cold chain management. An ordinary refrigerator is not good enough. Pfizer vaccine should be stored at minus 70 degrees C – colder than the Arctic in winter!
This requires infrastructure, high standards, qualified personnel, and good connectivity to many different countries along the supply chain.
Fortunately, Singapore has a strong ecosystem for cargo handling.
The main global logistics companies such as DHL, UPS and FedEx are based here. SIA and Changi Airport ground handling partners are certified by Iata (International Air Transport Association) to handle and transport pharmaceutical supplies.
We are now preparing to handle large volumes of vaccine shipments to Singapore and through Singapore to help win the global fight against Covid-19.
We don’t get here overnight. We have always planned ahead, creating opportunities for ourselves in a systematic way. It took us years of investment and planning, creating a business-friendly climate, and expanding our air links around the world.
These long-term investments are now paying dividends.
During this immediate crisis, we have reacted quickly and comprehensively, we have gathered resources to solve our problems, and we have remained resilient.
Our situation is stable now, but only because everyone has worked so hard and sacrificed so much.
Now that the vaccines are available, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
As vaccines become widespread not only in Singapore, but also in our region and the world, we can look forward to resuming a more normal life.
Let’s continue our efforts in this final stretch to cross the finish line together and complete our mission to defeat Covid-19.
Thank you.
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