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SINGAPORE – A global accreditation framework for Covid-19 “vaccination passports” to allow international travel is something that various health authorities, including Singapore, are looking at.
However, this will require much more study, given how new the coronavirus is. Questions that need further discussion include the nature of the vaccine, how long the immunity would last, and whether this will apply to recovered people.
Currently, the only applicable vaccination certificate for world travel is for yellow fever. The vaccine provides lifelong immunity.
This issue of vaccination passports was one of the topics discussed in a webinar on Wednesday (October 21), titled Covid-19 in Asia Pacific – Border Control Policy and the Road to Reopening.
Hosted by the National University of Singapore’s Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, the webinar convened a panel of seven speakers from across the region. They included the Swiss Ambassador to Singapore, Fabrice Filliez, and the World Health Organization regional adviser for Southeast Asia, Manisha Shridhar, as well as representatives from New Zealand, Indonesia and Singapore.
The Dean of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, Teo Yik Ying, was the moderator.
A key topic of discussion was how strictly a country should control its borders and how the impact of imported cases on health resources could be managed. To this, the panelists said there is no one-size-fits-all approach.
Today, many countries, including Singapore, adopt quarantine measures, the safest and most effective way to detect imported cases. However, given the economic consequences of tight global border control, countries have tried to take a calibrated approach to easing restrictions.
Risk assessments are needed and the panel addressed the issue of whether there would be a risk assessment framework to guide countries, regions and the world. Such a framework would provide a very transparent form of decision-making, with clear indicators of when a country can lift border control measures and the degree of relaxation of security restrictions.
Key measures that will form the cornerstone during the easing of border control measures include testing: pre-departure testing, arrival testing and repeat testing.
The panelists said decisions will also need to be made on what kinds of tests to perform, whether the gold standard polymerase chain reaction test is being used, or whether countries could take advantage of more advanced technologies, such as breath analysis tests. and the fast antigen. tests.
In Singapore, a Covid-19 breathalyzer-type diagnostic test kit is being developed that provides results in less than a minute. Now in its prototype stage, it has so far achieved an accuracy rate of more than 90 percent during a pilot clinical trial involving 180 patients at the National Center for Infectious Diseases.
Rapid antigen tests are also being tested in Singapore, where participants in certain mass events must test negative before they can enter. The results of these tests are published in 30 minutes and the tests can be conducted at the event site or at an off-site test facility.
However, it is critical to note that neither of these regimes is foolproof, and secure management measures, as well as good contact tracing systems, will remain critical to preventing infected cases that have entered the country from spreading the virus. within the community, the panelists said.
Strong public health strategies will also increase people’s confidence when traveling, the panel noted.
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