CLARIFICATIONS IN RESPONSE TO QUERIES ON (1) ELIGIBILITY FOR DINING IN F&B OUTLETS; AND (2) RECOGNITION OF THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION’S EMERGENCY USE LISTING (WHO EUL) VACCINES

(1) Eligible diners for dining-in in F&B outlets

1.     At the Multi-Ministry Task Force (MTF) press conference on 6 August 2021, the Multi-Ministry Taskforce announced that F&B establishments are permitted to seat 
fully vaccinated diners in groups of up to 5 persons. “Fully vaccinated” means two weeks after receiving a full regimen of the Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty or Moderna vaccines, or any of the vaccines on the WHO EUL listing, with the vaccination status updated in MOH’s national IT system as indicated in Section (2) below.  

2.     In addition, the following individuals are eligible to dine-in at F&B establishments if they:

a.  Have recovered from COVID-19 and have a valid Pre-Event Test (PET) exemption notice¹; or
b. Have a negative PET result for the duration of his/her dine-in² from an MOH-approved COVID-19 test provider within the last 24 hours; or
c.  Are children aged 12 years and below, so long as all children at a given table are from the same household.

3.     MOH and ESG would like to clarify that F&B establishments are not allowed to accept any dine-in customers who do not meet the criteria in (a)-(c) above.  Enforcement officers will be doing their checks, and will take strict enforcement actions against any F&B establishments and individuals who do not comply with these rules. 

4.     Unvaccinated individuals who do not meet any of criteria (a)-(c) can dine in groups of up to 2 persons only at coffeeshops and hawker centres. For now, the concession for unvaccinated persons to dine applies specifically to hawker centres and coffeeshops³. We encourage unvaccinated individuals who dine at such locations to vigilantly maintain hand hygiene, and not to linger after their meals, in order to reduce their risk of contracting COVID-19.

(2) Updating and Verification of Vaccine Status 

5.     All Singapore residents who obtained their Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty or  Moderna locally would automatically have their vaccination records updated in the National Immunisation Registry (NIR), and reflected on the TraceTogether and HealthHub Apps from 10 Aug 2021. This will also enable businesses using the SafeEntry (Business) App to easily verify the vaccination status of their customers.   Residents who received Sinovac locally will also be able to access their vaccination record on the HealthHub App from 10 Aug 2021, pending further updates to TraceTogether and the SafeEntry (Business) App.  

6.     Singaporeans, Permanent Residents and Long-Term Pass Holders (LTPHs) who have been fully vaccinated overseas (be it Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty, Moderna, or any of the other vaccines under the WHO Emergency Use Listing) will have to provide documents showing proof of vaccination and take a serology test at an approved provider to confirm that the vaccination has been effective.  Upon a positive serology result, their vaccination record will be updated in the National Immunisation Registry (NIR), and reflected on their TraceTogether and HealthHub Apps.  More details on the process, including the list of the approved providers, can be found on MOH’s Post Vaccination Matters website. 

7.     We will have a separate process for Short-Term Visitor Pass holders who were vaccinated overseas to update their vaccination status on the NIR. This is still being worked out, and details will be released soon.  

8.     Hard copies of overseas vaccination certificates will not be accepted for the vaccination-differentiated safe management measures. This is because it will be difficult for individual establishments to verify the authenticity of these certificates which are issued in different formats and languages. 

9.     We look forward to the cooperation of all Singaporeans as we strive towards a COVID-resilient Singapore.

¹Recovered individuals (within last 270 days) can obtain a PET Exemption Notice from any clinic offering ART or PCR testing services.  Refer to go.gov.sg/swabproviders for the list of MOH-approved COVID-19 test providers.

²Unvaccinated individuals aged 13 or above must have a valid negative ART or PCR result from an MOH-approved COVID-19 test provider within the last 24 hours. Refer to go.gov.sg/swabproviders for the list of MOH-approved COVID-19 test providers. Self-administered ART (including those supervised by employers) are not recognised for vaccination-differentiated SMMs.

³Coffee shops refer generally to F&B establishments with SFA coffee shop/ eating house/ canteen license.