Most adults in Singapore are already protected under the vaccine. But one vulnerable group remains unvaccinated for now — children under 12.
Last Friday (10 Dec), the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced that the Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty Covid-19 vaccine has been approved for children aged between 5 and 11.
On Tuesday (14 Dec), Education Minister Chan Chun Sing shared that if deliveries arrive as scheduled, appointment bookings for primary 3 to 5 students will open next week.
After that, the vaccination exercise will progressively open to those between ages 5 and 8.
According to the Facebook post on Tuesday (14 Dec), Minister Chan said the Expert Committee on Covid-19 Vaccination has recommended the Pfizer vaccine for children aged 5-11.
The committee assessed that, ultimately, the benefits of the vaccination far outweigh the risks.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is currently working closely with MOH and the Early Childhood Development Agency (EDCA) to roll out the vaccine exercise.
Under this exercise, more than 300,000 children in Singapore will be offered the vaccine.
Minister Chan said they are awaiting confirmation of when the paediatric doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty vaccine will arrive on our shores.
However, if things go as planned, vaccination appointment bookings for Primary 3-5 students will open up next week.
For the younger ones, the bookings will open up subsequently in early 2022.
Plans are still being finalised, and more updates will be given in due time.
Besides that, Minister Chan shared that the Covid-19 vaccination will help minimise the chances of children getting seriously ill if infected by the virus.
This is especially important with the emergence of the latest variant of concern, Omicron.
Covid-19 restrictions have been imposed on various school activities such as learning activities, sports, and games that are crucial to children’s physical, cognitive and socio-emotional well-being and development.
Minister Chan noted that as more children get vaccinated, such activities can resume.
Parents will be relieved to hear that the vaccination exercise for children will finally begin.
And it’ll be great timing as well with the exercise rolling out during the school holidays.
Hopefully, things will go smoothly, and young children can also be better protected from the virus by getting inoculated soon.
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Featured image adapted from Chan Chun Sing on Facebook.
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