From Pandemic To Endemic: Living With The Virus

Two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, countries around the world have experienced multiple waves caused by different variants of the coronavirus. Recently, the new Omicron variant has dominated other variants to become the main culprit behind the newest wave of Covid-19 infections. To find out more about Omicron and its transmissibility, you may consult your economics tutor Singapore in your economics tuition Singapore class. The United States of America and many European countries have seen their daily new infections reaching new peaks. In Singapore, daily new infections number has also been ticking up with weekly infection growth rate exceeding 1 since 4 January 2022.

From Pandemic To Endemic

Though highly infectious, the new variant of Omicron is known to be less severe compared with other variants such as Delta. This brings us hope that we may have arrived at the end of the Covid-19 pandemic. To embrace the new endemic world, countries around the world have identified vaccination and vaccination differentiated safe management measures as the key to building up resilience and living with the coronavirus. With guidance from your economics tutor Singapore in economics tuition Singapore, discuss the key considerations to ensure post Covid-19 pandemic economic recovery.

In Singapore, the government has made it mandatory for workers to be fully vaccinated in order to enter their workplaces. Similarly, a person who is 18 years and above must be fully vaccinated to enter the malls, dine at F&B establishments including restaurants, coffee shops and hawker centres, among others. In consultation with your economics tutor Singapore in your economics tuition Singapore class, explain the importance of vaccination differentiated safe management measures. You may discuss with your economics tutor Singapore in economics tuition Singapore to compare vaccination differentiated safe management measures in Singapore and the United States.

Vaccine Mandate

On 5 January 2022, the Ministry of Health Singapore announced the new requirement for a booster shot to maintain fully vaccinated status. Those who are 18 years and above and do not take booster shots will lose their fully vaccinated status 270 days after the last dose of their primary vaccination series. Exceptions are made for those who are medically illegible or have recovered from Covid-19. In discussion with your economics tutor Singapore in your economics tuition Singapore class, explain the implications of this new requirement. The new requirement for a booster shot to maintain fully vaccinated status will take effect from 14 February 2022.

To facilitate returning to work in office safely, some businesses have adopted a very harsh approach. Citigroup in the United States, for example, has given its employees a deadline by 14 January 2022 to get fully vaccinated. Otherwise, they will be placed on unpaid leave and fired at the end of January 2022. Citigroup is the first large financial institution in the United States to enforce such a strict vaccine mandate. As of 7 January 2022, over 90 per cent of Citigroup employees have complied with the mandate, with the number still rising. Other large financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley still allow their unvaccinated employees to work from home. With help from your economics tutor Singapore in economics tuition Singapore, discuss the possible considerations preventing them from imposing a strict vaccine mandate.

Apart from Citigroup, an increasing number of companies in the United States have adopted vaccine mandate, or “no jab, no job” policy to protect their employees and minimise business disruptions. These include Google and the United Airlines. The latter fired 200 of its 67,000 employees in December 2021 for failing to comply with its vaccine mandate.

Linda Geng

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