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COVID-19 Vaccination Exercise for Students in Schools and Institutes of Higher Learning

Last Updated: 31 May 2021

News Press Releases

1. As part of the national vaccination exercise, the Ministry of Health (MOH) will be rolling out vaccination to more groups, and will work with the Ministry of Education (MOE) to progressively cover over 400,000 students from schools and Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) from 1 June 2021.

2. The Heath Sciences Authority (HSA) has approved the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use in individuals aged 12 to 151. Studies and data have shown that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine are effective and safe for individuals aged 12 and above, and aged 18 and above respectively. Based on HSA's approval of the medical suitability of the vaccines, individuals below the age of 18 will only be offered the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, while individuals aged 18 and above can opt for either vaccine.

3. Vaccination for students in schools and IHLs is part of the larger national efforts to keep our education institutions and the wider community safe. All medically eligible individuals are encouraged to get vaccinated when vaccination is offered to them.

Roll-Out of Vaccination

4. All eligible students can expect to receive their invitation to sign up for their vaccination from 1 June 2021, starting with graduating cohorts at the secondary schools and Pre-University levels, in particular, students sitting for the GCE N-, O-, or A-Level examinations (or equivalent qualifications) in the second-half of 2021. These students will be the first to receive their invitations to be vaccinated so that they can have greater flexibility in scheduling their vaccination appointments in view of their upcoming national examinations.

5. Subsequently, over the next two weeks, similar invitations will be progressively extended to other groups of full-time students2 in our schools and IHLs, including the Privately-Funded Schools, Madrasahs and Special Education (SPED) schools.

6. Vaccination for medically eligible students will be made available in the community vaccination centres. There will also be four dedicated MOE vaccination centres, of which three will be at ITE College campuses3, jointly set up by MOE and the Health Promotion Board (HPB), and one at Raffles City Convention Centre from 7 June to provide additional options for students. As all three ITE campuses will have MOE vaccination centres, ITE will arrange for their students to take their vaccinations on-campus, to make use of this dedicated capacity.

7. To facilitate access for students in SPED schools who may find it challenging to visit a vaccination site, MOH will deploy mobile vaccination teams to the schools to carry out vaccinations for all SPED students aged 12 and above. The SPED schools will share the registration instructions and guidelines with students and their parents/guardians.

Conduct of Vaccination Exercise and Registration Process

8. Students or parents/guardians of students (for students under 18 years old) will receive SMSes with a unique link for them to book vaccination appointments at any of the vaccination centres, including the four dedicated MOE vaccination centres. We encourage all to book their vaccination appointments once the SMS invitation is received to secure a desired timeslot and location. Those who are below 18 years will only be offered appointment slots at sites with Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines.

9. The main vaccination exercise for most students will be through the National Appointment System as this will give maximum flexibility in choice of dates and venues, and for students to get vaccinated early and be better protected against COVID-19. However, for students who require additional support, our schools will look into alternative vaccination arrangements when school reopens, including providing transport to the vaccination centres.

Parental Consent

10. Parental/guardian consent will be required for students below the age of 18 as part of the booking process for the vaccination appointment slots via the National Appointment System. Consent given via the National Appointment System will be collected once, and apply for both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

11. Parents/guardians of students aged 13 and above are not required to accompany their child/ward to the vaccination site. Parent/guardian accompaniment is only required for children aged 12 and children in SPED schools.

12. While the COVID-19 vaccination is not mandatory, we would like to encourage all medically eligible students to be vaccinated when the vaccine is made available to them. This is our way of protecting not just our students and education institutions, but also their families and the wider community. For more information on the vaccination exercise for students, please visit https://www.moe.gov.sg/faqs-covid-19-infection.

Annexes
  1. Annex A: Infographic on the Vaccination Exercise for Students
  2. Annex B: Frequently Asked Questions
Footnotes
  1. Please refer to the following MOH press releases for more details: https://www.moh.gov.sg/news-highlights/details/expert-committee-on-covid-19-vaccination-18May and https://www.moh.gov.sg/news-highlights/details/expert-committee-on-covid-19-vaccination-continues-to-endorse-safety-and-efficacy-of-pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccine-in-individuals-aged-12-to-15-years
  2. In line with HSA's approval of the use of COVID-19 vaccines in Singapore, SMS invites will only be sent to parents/guardians of children who are 12 years old as at 1 June 2021. Those whose 12th birthday falls after 1 June 2021 will be invited for vaccination at a later date.
  3. The three ITE College campuses are ITE College Central, ITE College East and ITE College West.