Singapore is in talks with the USA to establish quarantine-free travel for fully-vaccinated travellers, following trials with Brunei and Germany.
“We have had successful pilots of Vaccinated Travel Lanes (VTL) with Germany and Brunei to facilitate the entry of fully vaccinated individuals into Singapore for business and leisure,” says Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong.
“We are now working on a VTL with the US as soon as possible, and certainly before the end of the year.”
Gan was speaking to the US Chamber of Commerce while on a visit to Washington DC.
Gan notes that the USA is the biggest foreign investor in Singapore, while the city-state is Asia’s second largest investor in the USA. Major US companies have a large presence in Singapore.
According to IATA’s coronavirus travel regulations map, travellers from Singapore can fly freely to the USA.
Despite its high vaccination rate, Singapore largely restricts arrivals from the USA, apart from Singapore citizens and permanent residents. These arrivals must undergo several polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for Covid-19, and are subject to 10 days of quarantine.
Some Americans, such as business leaders and high level government officials, can apply for an exemption from the quarantine requirement.
The VTLs with Brunei and Germany allow vaccinated travelers to visit Singapore on pre-designated vaccinated flights, but require several PCR tests at the passenger’s expense. Children are excluded from the VTL arrangement.
According to the Singapore government, 83% of the eligible population is fully vaccinated against Covid-19, and as of 7 October there were 3,483 new cases in the country.
Over the last 28 days 98.4% of Singapore residents with Covid-19 had mild or no symptoms.
