Singapore — Within 24 hours of being invited to get vaccinated, more than one in three of Primary 4 to 6 students already had appointments scheduled, said Education Minister Chan Chun Sing.
He announced in a Facebook post on Thursday that all the paediatric vaccination slots for this month are fully booked, and weekend slots for January are “seeing a very good take-up”.
They will be given reduced doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. “Heartened to see many parents taking decisive action to protect our children as we meet the evolving challenges from the pandemic,” said Mr Chan.
He encourages parents to book early and consider taking advantage of the weekday vaccination slots still available.
To further facilitate the vaccination initiative, the National Appointment System will begin on Sunday (Dec 26), so that parents or guardians of all children born between 2010 and 2012 can register their interest at the following link.
They will receive a unique link by SMS within three to five working days to book an appointment.
Meanwhile, Mr Chan confirmed that students who get their shots during school hours and those who feel unwell from side effects will get time off and be deemed to be on medical leave.
The paediatric dose is meant for children aged five to 11. Eleven-year-olds who get their first shot just before their 12th birthday will get the higher dosage of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for ages 12 and above for the second shot.
“The 5 to 11 age group is by far the largest remaining group of unvaccinated population in our midst, at over 300,000,” he said, urging parents and guardians to register the children upon receiving an invitation.
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“This is an important step for us to keep our children, our families and our extended communities, including our schools and pre-schools safe and more resilient against Covid-19.”
The Pfizer BioNTech vaccine for young children consists of one-third the dosage for adults and has shown around a 90 per cent reduction in the risk of symptomatic infection based on the third phase of its clinical trial. /TISG
Read related: Parents can prepare their kids aged 5-11 for COVID-19 vaccination by explaining the process to them
Parents can prepare their kids aged 5-11 for COVID-19 vaccination by explaining the process to them