Man charged after allegedly offering nurse $50 to falsify vaccination record

SINGAPORE - A 34-year-old man was on Thursday (Jan 13) charged in a district court with attempting to bribe a nurse to falsely record that he had received his second vaccination dose.

Kelvin Tan Li Ming, who faces one graft charge, is accused of offering $50 to the part-time vaccination nurse on Oct 26 last year at an inoculation centre in Choa Chu Kang.

The Singaporean is said to have tried to induce the nurse to indicate in the healthcare system that he had been inoculated with a second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau said the nurse rejected the offer. Its statement did not disclose how it came to know of the case.

Tan told the court on Thursday that he intends to contest the corruption charge. His case is fixed for a pre-trial conference on Feb 17.

If convicted, he could be fined up to $100,000 and jailed for up to five years.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Health announced that from Feb 14, those aged 18 and above will have to take a booster shot within nine months of completing their primary vaccination series to maintain their fully vaccinated status.

Two mRNA jabs are required to complete the primary series, while the requirement for the Sinovac or Sinopharm vaccine is three jabs.

Two jabs of an mRNA vaccine - either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna - are required to complete the primary series, while the requirement for the Sinovac or Sinopharm vaccine is three jabs.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.