Singapore announced that it will be imposing countrywide COVID vaccination mandates starting February 1 next year. Proof of vaccination would be a requirement for applying for work passes, long-term passes and permanent residence in the country.

Those who wish to renew their work passes will be required to get their COVID vaccine shot to be eligible, state media reported citing the multi-ministry task force (MMTF) on COVID, according to reports from PTI.

Those below the age of 12 and who are not eligible to get the vaccine for medical reasons will not be included in the inoculation mandate, the task force said.

The announcement comes as Singapore is looking at the possibility of community spread of the omicron variant of COVID- first detected in South Africa— in the country. Late last week, Singapore detected a new COVID cluster that can be linked to the new variant.

However, state authorities cleared that all of the people linked to the confirmed cluster have been fully vaccinated and have mild or no symptoms, according to reports from Bloomberg.

In an attempt to curb the spread of the new variant, Singapore suspended flight and bus tickets under its quarantine-free travel lanes for entry between December 23- January 20, 2022.

So far, the country has reported 448 cases of COVID-19 that have been tied to the omicron variant. Out of these, 369 are imported cases, Bloomberg reported. “It is a matter of time before the omicron variant spreads in our community,” Singapore’s health ministry said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health has warned that unvaccinated workers will no longer be allowed to return to the workplace from January 15, even if they have a negative pre-event testing result. Partially vaccinated workers will be granted a grace period until January 31 to complete the vaccination regime, the ministry said, according to PTI.