Sydney : Singapore’s national carrier said on Wednesday that all “frontline” employees have until September 1 to be “fully vaccinated” against Covid-19, said dpa international.
The announcement by Singapore Airlines (SIA) also covers its Scoot budget wing. It came hours after Australia’s flagship Qantas said all frontline employees will have to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 within three months.
A SIA spokesperson told local television news outlet CNA that 99 per cent of its pilots and cabin crew have already been jabbed.
Earlier, the Qantas Group, which owns Qantas and budget airline Jetstar, said that cabin crew, pilots and airport workers will need to be fully vaccinated by November 15, while the remainder of its employees will have until March 31, 2022 to be fully jabbed.
Jetstar Asia in Singapore said staff there would also have to get the jab, despite a Manpower Ministry advisory last month that employers should not make vaccination mandatory.
Jetstar Asia and SIA contend that requiring the jab is in line with ministry advice around the “small and exceptional number of employment settings” that could leave workers more exposed to infection.
Qantas had earlier said there will be exceptions for those unable to be vaccinated for medical reasons, but those cases are expected to be rare.
“One crew member can fly into multiple cities and come into contact with thousands of people in a single day,” Qantas Group head Alan Joyce said as he announced the policy.
“Making sure they are vaccinated, given the potential of this virus to spread, is so important and I think it’s the kind of safety leadership people would expect from us.”
“It’s clear that vaccinations are the only way to end the cycle of lockdowns and border closures, and for a lot of Qantas and Jetstar employees that means getting back to work again,” Joyce added.
Qantas said that the decision was made following consultation with employees including a large-scale survey seeking their views on vaccination.
“We understand there will be a very small number of people who decide not to get the vaccine, and that’s their right, but it’s our responsibility to provide the safest possible environment for our employees and for our customers,” Joyce said.
The airline has previously said that passengers would be required to be vaccinated against Covid-19, once options become widely available, to travel on international flights and promised to reward jabbed travelers.
Australia’s international borders have been closed to all but residents and citizens, with a few exceptions, since March 2020.
Inter-state borders have also been shut at a moment’s notice multiple times during the pandemic, crippling travel demand.
Qantas at the beginning of the month announced it would stand down around 2,500 frontline Qantas and Jetstar employees for an estimated two months in response to ongoing Covid-19 outbreaks, though it added that “no job losses” were expected.
So far, about 27 per cent of Australians over the age of 16 are fully vaccinated, and almost half of over-16s have had at least one jab.
Over 70 per cent of Singaporeans had received two vaccine doses by the time of the August 9 independence commemoration, according to the Health Ministry.
The city-state’s government said recently that it aims to deal with the virus in a similar manner to how Western governments have in the past managed influenza and will base restrictions on numbers hospitalized or unwell, rather than on case numbers.
