Written Answer to PQ by Minister for Manpower Dr Tan See Leng on Protocols to Ensure Threshold of Vaccination Levels among Workers in Dormitories and Verification of Vaccination Status of New Arrivals
NOTICE PAPER NO. 799 OF 2021 FOR THE SITTING ON 01 NOV 2021
QUESTION NO. 1280 FOR WRITTEN ANSWER
MP: Miss He Ting Ru
To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) whether the percentage of fully vaccinated migrant workers residing in dormitories remains at "over 90%" as communicated in September 2021; (b) what is the breakdown of unvaccinated migrant workers by dormitory; and (c) whether there are protocols in place to ensure no dormitory has vaccination levels under a certain threshold.
NOTICE PAPER NO. 799 OF 2021 FOR THE SITTING ON 01 NOV 2021
QUESTION NO. 1281 FOR WRITTEN ANSWER
MP: Miss He Ting Ru
To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) how many migrant workers living in dormitories have arrived in the last three months; (b) how many of the migrant worker arrivals have been verified as fully vaccinated in Singapore’s registry; (c) what is the average number of days taken for the verification process for all migrant worker arrivals from the date of arrival; and (d) what is the maximum time taken for such verification.
Answer
1. 98% of migrant workers in the dormitories have been fully vaccinated, so there is greater assurance that they are protected against the risk of severe illnesses in the event of a COVID-19 infection.
2. MOM also tracks the vaccination rate of the migrant workers across all dormitories closely. 96% of the migrant worker dormitories have more than 80% of their residents vaccinated. For workers who have yet to be vaccinated under our national programme, MOM has been working with the relevant sector leads, such as BCA and EDB, to proactively engage the employers and encourage their workers to be vaccinated; or if the workers had been vaccinated overseas, to verify the vaccination status.
3. The vaccination process has been made easy for the migrant workers. MOM currently facilitates by scheduling the vaccination appointments on the workers’ behalf. Workers and their employers can also reschedule the appointments. For migrant workers who may have been vaccinated overseas, their employers would also receive a step-by-step guide to get their workers’ vaccination records verified and updated accordingly. Verification comprises a serology test and evidence of vaccination with a PSAR or WHO EUL vaccine. The vaccination verification by the private healthcare providers is usually completed within a week.
4. In the past three months, over 6,200 workers have arrived in Singapore and reside in the dormitories. Of these, more than 4 in 10 or over 2,700 have already been registered as fully vaccinated in the National Immunisation Registry (NIR), while another 900 have at least taken one dose. MOM continues to follow up with the remaining workers – about 2,600 – to ask them and their employers to come forward for vaccination under our national programme if unvaccinated or verify their overseas vaccination.