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Protecting Our Children from COVID-19 with Vaccination for 5 to 11-Year-Olds

Last Updated: 21 Dec 2021

News Press Releases

The Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) will be working with the Ministry of Health (MOH) to extend the national vaccination programme to cover over 300,000 children aged 5 to 11, starting with the older children from 27 December 2021. The programme will be open to all children who are Singapore Citizens (SC), Permanent Residents (PR) and long-term pass holders (LTPH). Booking for vaccination appointments will start on 22 December 2021.

2. The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) has approved the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine for use in children aged 5 to 11. The Phase 3 clinical trial of the vaccine has shown that the Pfizer BioNTech/Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective for children in this age group. The Expert Committee on COVID-19 Vaccination has assessed that the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks. Currently, the Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine is the only vaccine approved for children aged 5 to 11 in Singapore.

3. As of 19 December 2021, about 94% of those in the 12 to 19 age group have completed the full vaccination regimen. The extension of the vaccination programme to children aged 5 to 11 is part of the larger national efforts to keep our children, their families and the wider community safe.

Designated Paediatric Vaccination Centres

4. To facilitate the vaccination of younger children, 15 designated paediatric vaccination centres (VCs) located island-wide will progressively begin operations1. These VCs will be manned by medical personnel trained in paediatric care, as well as staff trained in administering vaccination for children. Please refer to Annex A for a map of the VCs. Seven paediatric VCs will start operations from 27 December 2021, followed by seven more centres from 3 January 2022. MOE has also worked with MOH to set up an additional paediatric VC within Yusof Ishak Secondary School (YISS)2 to provide better coverage of the Punggol/Seng Kang area, commencing operations on 11 January 2022.

Roll-Out of Vaccination and Registration Process

5. The registration process for the vaccination exercise will open progressively to all eligible children broadly by age bands, starting with children born between 2009 to 2012, followed by those born between 2013 to 2017. Children must have crossed their 5th birthday before they are eligible to book an appointment and receive the vaccination.

6. In addition, to facilitate vaccination for those who are enrolled in MOE primary schools3, MOE has arranged to send an SMS invitation to their parents/guardians to expedite the vaccination booking process by primary level cohorts.

7. Please refer to Annex B for a summary of the registration process.

All students in P4-P6 (in 2022) as well as children born between 2009 to 2012

8. From 22 December 2021 (Wednesday), parents/guardians of Primary 4 to 6 students (all references to primary level cohorts is for the year 2022) studying in MOE primary schools can expect to progressively receive an SMS invitation with a unique link to book a vaccination appointment.

9. From 27 December 2021 (Monday), the MOH National Appointment System (NAS) at child.vaccine.gov.sg4 will open up for parents/guardians of all children aged 9 - 11 (defined to be those born between 20095 to 20126) to register their interest to vaccinate their child/ward. After registration, parents/guardians can expect to receive a unique link via SMS within 3 to 5 working days to book a vaccination appointment.

All students in P1-P3 (in 2022)

10. From the week of 3 January 2022, parents/guardians of Primary 1 to 3 students (in 2022) in MOE primary schools can expect to progressively receive a unique link via SMS to book a vaccination appointment.

Children born between 2013 to 2017

11. From the week of 10 January 20227, parents/guardians of all children aged 5 and above may proceed to register their interest on the NAS. After registration, parents/guardians can expect to receive a unique link via SMS within 3 to 5 working days to book a vaccination appointment.

Special arrangements for MOE Special Education (SPED) schools and ECDA-funded Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children (EIPIC) centres

12. To facilitate access for children in SPED schools and ECDA-funded EIPIC centres, MOH will deploy mobile vaccination teams to schools for all eligible SPED and EIPIC students from 12 January 2022. Parents/guardians may either opt for their child to receive the vaccination via these mobile vaccination teams, or register their interest on the NAS for their child to receive the vaccination at a paediatric VC. The SPED schools and EIPIC centres will share registration instructions and guidelines with the parents/guardians of these children.

13. Parents/guardians of children with special and developmental needs who do not attend SPED schools or EIPIC centres, such as those from Private Early Intervention centres or who are home-schooled, may register their interest on the NAS when their children's respective age bands are eligible for registration.

Parental/guardian Consent

14. Parental/guardian consent is required to book a vaccination appointment for both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine. All children aged 5 to 11 must also be accompanied by one parent/guardian at the VC for their appointment. Parents/guardians should bring along their child/ward's Student Identification, or if not available, other forms of identification (e.g. Birth Certificate/Passport/SingPass) during the vaccination appointment for verification purposes. Those who registered their interest on the NAS will also be required to sign a consent form and bring along a hardcopy or softcopy to the VC for verification. The consent form can be found on NAS.

15. To ensure compliance with Safe Management Measures at the VCs, only one parent/guardian is allowed to accompany their child/ward into the VC.

16. We strongly encourage parents/guardians to get their child/ward vaccinated if they are medically eligible, to keep our families and our wider community safe. For more information on this "5-to-11" vaccination exercise, please visit https://www.moe.gov.sg/faqs-covid-19-infection.

Frequently Asked Questions


Footnotes

  1. Designated paediatric VCs, apart from Yusof Ishak Secondary School, are co-located with existing vaccination centres for adults and older children. There will be separate queues and spaces to ensure adherence to safe management measures and correct administration of the vaccine.

  2. The MOE paediatric VC at the newly-completed YISS campus in Punggol will be located at the school’s Indoor Sports Hall (ISH). It will be supported by mobile vaccination teams from the Health Promotion Board (HPB) who are experienced in administering paediatric vaccination. The vaccination operations at YISS’ ISH will be segregated from the rest of YISS and will not affect lessons and programmes for YISS e.g. direct entry to the ISH from pedestrian gate of school).

  3. Students in primary level Madrasahs will largely follow similar arrangements as those for MOE primary schools. An SMS invitation will also be sent to their parents/guardians.

  4. The link will go ‘live’ from 27 December 2021.

  5. Those born in 2009 who have reached 12 years old as of the date of the first vaccination appointment will be required to take the Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine for ages 12 and above and not the paediatric dose.

  6. For this phase, we will open up registration based strictly on calendar year of birth and not go by when the child turns 9, to keep the registration process simple. The issue of turning 9 will no longer be relevant once we fully open the registration process to all who are 5-11, by around mid-January 2022.

  7. MOE and ECDA will provide an update in early January on the confirmed date for this phase of paediatric vaccination registration and booking.