PSP files adjournment motion on VDS measures, concerned they’ll be extended to children

Singapore — Progress Singapore Party Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Leong Mun Wai took to Facebook on Tuesday (Jan 4) to announce that Ms Hazel Poa filed an adjournment motion on the Vaccination-differentiated Safe (VDS) Management Measures for this year’s first Parliament session.

Ms Poa is Mr Leong’s fellow PSP NCMP.

Mr Leong expressed concern whether these measures would be extended to children as well.

The first Parliament session for 2022 will be held next week, from Jan 10 to 12.

“We have been monitoring with concern the growing intensity of the VDS measures after the first was introduced on 1 August 2021, to disallow the unvaccinated from dining in a restaurant.  

It has since widened its reach to have the unvaccinated pay for medical fees related to Covid-19 from 8 December 2021 and the latest and most draconian of all, forbidding the unvaccinated person to report at the workplace even with a negative pre-event test (PET) from 15 January 2022.”

Information concerning the VDS measures, which states restrictions for non-vaccinated individuals, may be found here. These measures were introduced to better protect the vulnerable and at-risk groups in our population, the Ministry of Health has said.

From Jan 1 of this year, only people who had been fully vaccinated, or have recovered from Covid, or are medically ineligible for the vaccine jabs, or in some cases, are 12 years and below, will be allowed to enter venues and participate in activities where vaccination-differentiated SMMs are implemented.

As several attempts to raise more questions in Parliament on VDS were unsuccessful, we have decided to file this motion to bring the voice of the people to Parliament,” wrote Mr Leong, adding that because Adjournment Motions are subject to drawing of lots, PSP is waiting for confirmation from Parliament.  

He thanked members of the public who have provided “helpful input and feedback” to PSP, and asked for “more relevant pointers in the run-up to the Parliament Session this coming Monday, 10 January 2022.”

This is not the first time Mr Leong has expressed concerns over the Covid vaccine for children. On Dec 2, he posted on Facebook a letter addressed to Health Minister Ong Ye Kung asking for “careful consideration” of the vaccine for children from the ages of five to 11, explaining that the PSP has received a considerable amount of feedback from parents and grandparents who were “anxious and troubled” over the government’s plan to vaccinate children. /TISG

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