The setup team taking a group photo to celebrate the smooth completion of day 1 at the Changi Vaccination Centre at Terminal 4

2021 started on a bright note for aviation – The Ministry of Health (MOH) made the decision to start vaccinating the aviation community right after prioritising healthcare workers to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. This move was pivotal given the sector’s role in keeping Singapore’s air borders and its link to the outside world open.  ​

In addition to existing safe management measures at the airport, which continues to be necessary in helping Singapore to mitigate any spread and keep community transmission low, vaccination is the next key enabler to protect the country and prepare Changi Airport to emerge stronger from Covid-19.​

Changi Journeys was given rare access for an exclusive look into how Changi Airport Group (CAG) managed to turn Terminal 4 (T4), with operations currently suspended, into Singapore’s largest Covid-19 vaccination centre (VC) in just seven days.

To facilitate a smooth inoculation process for frontline air crew and airport workers, it was decided that the arrival hall of T4 would be used because of its convenient location and that it would not impact ongoing airport operations.   

With the location confirmed, CAG sprung into action, setting up various taskforces to plan the vaccination schedule, as well as arrange for the physical setup of the VC together with Raffles Medical Group (RMG), taking into account resource capacity and space required for optimum flow.  The team also aligned with MOH on operational matters to ensure that the correct number of vaccines would be supplied to the VC daily. It was important for everything to run like clockwork and for capacity to be scaled up if needed. At the current peak, 3,000 can receive the Covid-19 jab each day. As at 9 February, more than 36,500 frontline aviation workers, including Jewel staff, had received their first dose of vaccine, and nearly 4,000 had completed their second dose. The VC is expected to be scaled up to between 4,000 and 8,000 people in the near future as the Government plans towards opening the centre at T4 to the community.

The scheduling of frontline staff, of whom the bulk works on shift is no mean feat, as factors such as duty timings and team structure had to be taken into account. For business continuity purposes, employees within a specific function had to be scheduled a number of days apart, so that should anyone experience any post-vaccination side effects such as fever and aches, they could have the appropriate rest needed.

Physical setup at the VC

Signages with clear instructions were placed at key locations to help direct staff, making their vaccination process smooth and efficient

At the VC, three main zones were set up to facilitate process flow. At Zone 1, airport workers would first mark their attendance with their respective organisations, before joining the queue for medical registration by RMG personnel, where they will be asked a series of questions to check whether they can receive the vaccine. During the queuing process, staff were on ground to ensure that workers observe the safe distance markers on the floor.