SINGAPORE – Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said on Feb 15 that he is “not very worried” about measles spreading in Singapore, amid the increase in cases here in 2026.

This is as 99 per cent of Singapore’s adult population have immunity, he said, largely because they have either contracted the disease before or have been vaccinated against it.

Measles vaccination was introduced into the childhood vaccination programme in October 1976 and made compulsory in August 1985.

Speaking at a Hari Raya bazaar light-up ceremony in Woodlands, Mr Ong said he is concerned only for infants younger than 12 months old who have yet to be vaccinated.

Based on the current National Childhood Immunisation Schedule, infants are given a first dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine at 12 months of age, and a second dose at 15 months.

Figures published on Feb 12 by the Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA) showed that two new cases of measles were detected here between Feb 1 and Feb 7, bringing the country’s total count in 2026 to 13 cases – the second-highest annual count in the past six years despite it only being February.

The country has since Feb 6 enhanced precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the measles virus within the community. These include mandatory isolation of people with confirmed measles infection until they are no longer infectious, and contact tracing for all infected cases.

Mr Ong noted that there have been no deaths caused by measles in the past two decades, and added that this contrasts with the situation before measles vaccinations were widespread, when up to three in 1,000 measles infections resulted in death, especially among children.

He said that those who survive such infections can suffer long-term problems, such as loss of immunity, infection to the brain and other kinds of serious implications.

To protect one another, he urged people to get vaccinated, adding that measles cases in Singapore have spiked due to anti-vaccination movements elsewhere in the world.

“In other countries... people start to not take vaccinations, so they get measles, and sometimes they come into Singapore,” he said.

“All the more, we have to work together, keep ourselves immune.”

On Feb 6, the CDA said that as at November 2025, the World Health Organisation reported 42,000 confirmed measles cases in the Western Pacific region, which includes East Asia, Australia, New Zealand and most of South-east Asia.

This is a five-fold increase compared with the 8,000 cases reported in 2024.

Mr Ong, who is also Coordinating Minister for Social Policies, was joined by fellow Sembawang GRC MPs Mariam Jaafar, Gabriel Lam and Ng Shi Xuan, as well as Sembawang West MP Poh Li San, at the Hari Raya event.

Bazar Raya Utara @ Woodlands Town 2026, which is located in Woodlands Avenue 7 opposite Admiralty MRT station, runs until March 19.