Singapore to relax social-distancing rules for fully vaccinated residents

Those who have received two doses will be able to dine out in groups of five. Currently, residents can only gather in pairs, and dining out is banned

They can also use the gym without wearing a mask, as the island nation becomes the first Southeast Asian nation to differentiate treatment for inoculated individuals

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A near-empty street in Singapore’s Chinatown area on August 3. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 6:36pm, 6 Aug 2021Updated: 7:45pm, 6 Aug 2021

Singapore’s fully vaccinated residents will enjoy relaxed social-distancing restrictions from Tuesday, including the ability to dine out in bigger groups, the government’s Covid-19 task force said on Friday.

The relaxed rules for those who have received two vaccine doses – who now account for 67 per cent of the country’s 5.7 million people – will come at the halfway mark of a month-long round of fresh restrictions imposed following a dramatic rise in community cases.

The task force also said Singapore would begin recognising the vaccinated status of those inoculated with jabs that were not part of its national vaccination programme, such as those produced by China’s Sinovac and Sinopharm.

Singapore’s programme uses the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

The authorities said the relaxed rules for vaccinated individuals were part of a “transition stage towards a Covid-resilient nation” made possible by the country’s rising vaccination rate.

From Tuesday, fully vaccinated individuals will be able to dine out in groups of five, and go to gyms without wearing a mask. Residents currently can only gather in pairs, and dining out is banned.