REACH 200 - Progress on vaccination and vaccination cert (SK)

02 Mar 2021 (11am - 7pm)

REACH

[0:36 pm, 02/03/2021] +REACH: Dear contributors,

Welcome back! 😊

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[0:52 pm, 02/03/2021] +REACH: Yesterday, Minister Ong Ye Kung mentioned the importance of starting to work on a system of mutual recognition of vaccine certification between countries. He noted that Singapore has put in place a system of digital vaccine certification that is tamper-proof and verifiable. 

The new digital vaccine certification system is based on HealthCerts, an open-source framework for issuing digital Covid-19 test result certificates, and is developed by the Government Technology Agency (GovTech) and the Ministry of Health. 

📢 Topic 📢 

💬 What are your views on Singapore's progress on the vaccination programme so far, and the implementation of a digital vaccine certification system? 

Singapore is also in discussions with the International Civil Aviation Organisation as well as various countries on the mutual recognition of such certifications. Minister Ong Ye Kung noted that such bilateral consultations and discussions will take some time. 

However, he also highlighted that there are no plans to require travellers to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to enter Singapore as there is currently not enough scientific data available to help health authorities determine the extent to which vaccines can reduce the likelihood of an individual infecting others.

👉https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/no-plans-to-impose-vaccinations-as-condition-for-entry-to-singapore-ong-ye-kung

👉https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/spore-maintains-relevance-to-world-amid-covid-19-by-helping-to-ensure-equitable-access-to

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[0:54 pm, 02/03/2021] +Caleb: Saw ppl commented why allow ppl to fly in without vaccinated but encourage residents to get vaccinated.

[0:54 pm, 02/03/2021] +Alvin: I think the vaccination programme is rolling out fine so far. And having a digital cert then has open framework so other nations recognize is essential for us to resume some normalcy again. My 2.14 cents

[0:54 pm, 02/03/2021] +Ken: Cause vaccine are limited supply... if we limit we limits the number of people coming in

[0:55 pm, 02/03/2021] +Nat: It's good that we have such a system but even though it's mentioned in the Notarise FAQ that these certificates are issued in the capacity of our MOH, we need clearer definition of what countries actually accept it - this is to avoid falling into grey areas 

Another welcome point is the no plan to impose vaccinations as condition for entry and I hope for this to be done to other aspects as well, otherwise there will be a clear divide between those who are vaccinated and those who are not 

And instead of being complacent when the general population starts to be vaccinated, we should continue to be vigilant (the same old personal hygiene, handling/wearing/disposing of masks properly, etc)

[0:55 pm, 02/03/2021] +Ken: Is a pro business action no choice

[0:55 pm, 02/03/2021] +Ken: Expected world wide vaccination will only complete in 2024 onwards 😅

[0:56 pm, 02/03/2021] +Ken: May have shortened not sure what’s the estimates now

[2:49 pm, 02/03/2021] ☸️  Danny 心: 

1. Unable to comment on the progress of the vaccination.

- So far no one in my family and my extended families have received letter for vaccination except my brother who is a frontliner - who received his 1st jab.

2. Will the Government dispatch someone to coax elderly to vaccinate? Know of some elderly who are adverse of vaccination due to getting wrong facts from the news. Need the authorities to dispatch someone to educate and coax some of the elderly who are given letters for vaccination - but did not register to vaccinate. The dispatch person can help the elderly to register for vaccination once the elderly are convinced to be vaccinated.

3. My order of preference for the vaccines are :-

a. Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine --- use widely and produce verifiable result.

Eg. Israel and UK - who have vaccinated a large populaton and have reported very promising results in terms of reduction in sickness from covid, infection from covid, reduce in transmission, proven high efficacy rate equivalent to trial which is about 94% and most important can protect against mutated variants such as UK B117. strain as well as good protection against Brazil strain.

A good statistics can be collected from both the Israel and UK.

b. Moderna vaccine - will be my 2nd priority if Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have been used up. 

Though Moderna is say to be similar to Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine - less comprehensive statistics have been collected in real world.

c. Non-mRNA vaccine - I will prefer not to be vaccinated - if for eg. I am offer vaccine like Sinovac or others ----- as the efficacy rate is lower, no proven data to say that they can protect against mutated variants.

Specifically, everytime I walk past the cc that do vaccination, I will ask the medical staff there - what vaccine are being used now?

When they told me Pfizer-BioNTech - I say "thank you" and I happily walk away - hopefully when my turn comes --- the vaccine will still be Pfizer-BioNTech.

[2:50 pm, 02/03/2021] +REACH: Budget debate: Enhanced support schemes to defray businesses' costs of expanding overseas https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/politics/enhanced-support-schemes-to-defray-businesses-costs-of-expanding-overseas?&utm_source=whatsapp&utm_medium=social-media&utm_campaign=addtoany

[2:59 pm, 02/03/2021] ☸️  Danny 心: 

Should Singapore welcome vaccinated (through vaccine cert) and those unvaccinated from overseas travellers?

My take is :-

1. We shoud welcome vaccinated overseas travellers when vaccine cert is accepted worldwide - as this will help to assure the vaccinated overseas travellers are safe and will not transmit covid to our Community.

2. To revive our Air Hub and Sea Hub, we should continue to welcome unvaccinated overseas travellers - with the current border safety measures -such as 14 days SHN etc, with covid test, mask, safe distancing etc as well as continue to negotiate for Safe travel bubble with like-minded foreign Countries.

[3:02 pm, 02/03/2021] ☸️  Danny 心: 

Singapore economy will be contingent on opening our borders with proper safety safeguard.

We cannot afford to close our borders to foreigners else our economy, air hub and sea hub will be adversely impacted.

[3:06 pm, 02/03/2021] +REACH: Hotels, travel agents and tour guides licence fee waivers extended to end-2021

Licence fee waivers for hotels, travel agents and tour guides will be extended to the end of 2021 as part of efforts to aid the recovery of the tourism sector.

Responding to questions from MPs on how the sector would be supported given ongoing travel restrictions on Tuesday (March 2), Minister of State for Trade and Industry Alvin Tan noted that some 7,000 tourism businesses had benefited from the Jobs Support Scheme in 2020, and firms in the sector will receive further wage support until September 2021.

More: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/politics/hotels-travel-agents-and-tour-guides-licence-fee-waivers-extended-to-end-2021

[3:08 pm, 02/03/2021] +REACH: Budget debate: New criteria to be introduced for criminal legal aid for those less well off

 A new set of criteria for those seeking help under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme (Clas) will be introduced this year, said Second Minister for Law Edwin Tong on Tuesday (March 2).

Those seeking help under Clas will now be assessed based on their per capita household income, annual value of their place of residence, and the amount of savings and non-Central Provident Fund investments.

More: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/politics/budget-debate-new-criteria-to-be-introduced-for-criminal-legal-aid-for-those-less

[3:50 pm, 02/03/2021] +REACH: [Sent by Gov.sg – 2 Mar]

As of 12pm, MOH has preliminarily confirmed no new cases of locally transmitted COVID-19 infection.

There are 8 imported cases, who had already been placed on Stay-Home Notice upon arrival in Singapore. 

MOH will share further updates in its press release that will be issued later tonight.

go.gov.sg/moh020321update

[3:53 pm, 02/03/2021] +Valli: Spore should look into allowing only vaccinated visitors. 

Hope travellers  don’t come here for free vaccination lol!

[3:58 pm, 02/03/2021] +Dan: Hi Reach, will the government consider clamping down on homes who are still using electrical appliances that use CFC refrigerants?

[4:21 pm, 02/03/2021] +Bobby Tan: Our G will not do such thing. Anyway CFC refrigerants should have been replaced or out dated. No spare parts to repair.

[4:22 pm, 02/03/2021] +Nat: I think some of those smaller fridge still use CFC, correct me if I'm wrong tho

[4:45 pm, 02/03/2021] +REACH: SMEs to get more advisory help to innovate and grow https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/more-advisory-help-for-smes-singapore-economy-mti-14313392#.YD37OvdiiBU.whatsapp

[4:47 pm, 02/03/2021] +Bobby Tan: I think maybe is HCFC as CFC stops production in 1995.

[4:57 pm, 02/03/2021] +Bobby Tan: Production of CFCs ceased in 1995. HCFC production will cease in 2020 (HCFC-22) or 2030 (HCFC-123). This means that although equipment that uses these refrigerants may operate just fine for 20 or 30 years, new or recycled refrigerant to service it may not be available. Don't buy equipment that uses CFC refrigerants.

[4:58 pm, 02/03/2021] +Bobby Tan: But how do layman knows the differences? I buy fridge just like and buy.

[4:59 pm, 02/03/2021] +Nat: I think some would know that CFC is harmful while some will only know CFC stands for Corporal First Class 😂

I think most would look at the efficiency labels though

[5:01 pm, 02/03/2021] +Bobby Tan: Oh is stated in brochures. so my fridge are all non-CFC. Heng Ah!.

[5:01 pm, 02/03/2021] +Bobby Tan: Nat is correct. CFC means Corporal First Class.

[5:06 pm, 02/03/2021] +Bobby Tan: https://www.nea.gov.sg/media/news/news/index/nea-introduces-measures-to-reduce-greenhouse-gas-emissions-from-refrigeration-air-conditioning

[5:42 pm, 02/03/2021] +REACH: Budget debate: National effort to get owners of critical information infrastructure to manage vendor cyber-security risks

Organisations running Singapore's critical information infrastructure (CII), such as telecommunication networks and public transport systems, will be encouraged to better manage their vendors' cyber-security risks, in the wake of recent global hacking attacks through third-party suppliers.

More: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/national-effort-to-get-owners-of-critical-information-infrastructure-to-manage-vendor

[5:44 pm, 02/03/2021] +REACH: New initiatives announced to help Singapore companies go digital https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/new-initiatives-to-help-singapore-companies-go-digital-14314720#.YD4I5T4BkvA.whatsapp

[6:36 pm, 02/03/2021] ☸️  Danny 心: 

The APT hackers that hack the Solarwinds NMS is a smart move - as an NMS monitor and manage the entire network, security devices, servers, VMs, clouds and apps of the entire network infrastructure via SNMP.

It has the read/write access to the devices it managed including resetting the password.

By compromising the NMS, it can access the network devices it manage.

[6:39 pm, 02/03/2021] ☸️  Danny 心: 

But if all the devices are protected by 2fa or multiple factors authentication, then even though if the hackers manage to take control of the NMS, it cannot change the password at will - if the hackers has no access to the 2nd factor OTP.

[6:45 pm, 02/03/2021] +REACH: Dear Contributors,

⏰ We will be closing the chat in 15 minutes ⏰

Thank you very much for being part of our WhatsApp chat and participating actively.

Goodnight!

Megan

[6:47 pm, 02/03/2021] ☸️  Danny 心: 

But hackers can still start or stop the devices it managed - and cause a denial of service - even though it can't steal the data by logging into the various network devices.

NMS is the command center of the entire network infrastructure.

[6:47 pm, 02/03/2021] +Alvin: Gdnite Megan

[6:49 pm, 02/03/2021] ☸️  Danny 心: 

NMS should be setup out of band so that internet hackers cannot access and take control of the NMS via internet.

US Solarwinds NMS are installed in-band that is accessible by internet - that is why APT hackers can hack US network.

[6:50 pm, 02/03/2021] ☸️  Danny 心: 

Out of band network should only be accessed by private leased line and not via internet.

[6:53 pm, 02/03/2021] ☸️  Danny 心: 

That's why Singapore are not affected by Solarwinds hack.

[6:59 pm, 02/03/2021] ☸️  Danny 心: 

SNMP data and traffic rightfully should not mix with user data.

Thus SNMP data and traffic should be install out of band and user data should be installed in- band.

US network mix the 2 things together - that is why internet hackers can hack the NMS.

[7:00 pm, 02/03/2021] +REACH: Dear Contributors,

We will be closing the chat for today.

Thank you very much for being part of our WhatsApp chat and participating actively.

Goodnight!

Megan

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