Singapore vaccine call

SINGAPORE may start turning back foreign visitors who do not have required vaccinations in a bid to protect the country from infectious diseases.

The country of 5.6 million people had 17.4 million visitors last year, and its size and openness have at times left it vulnerable. In 2013 it was hit hard by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

Visitors only need to be vaccinated against yellow fever, in line with global regulations, but that could change, depending on the health situation at the time. At the moment, visitors who have not been vaccinated can enter but on condition they get the vaccine, and they may be put in isolation or under surveillance.