Senior Minister of State for Health Janil Puthucheary said in Parliament on Monday (Aug 1) that children younger than five years old are “more vulnerable to COVID-19 infection and have higher rates of severe outcomes” but added that this is similar to other respiratory diseases.
He also pointed out that this age group is the last to be protected by vaccinations.
However, the Ministry of Health is getting ready for vaccine jabs for them by the end of the year, with the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) presently studying pertinent data from Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech.
Dr Janil added that severe illness from Covid is still more likely to occur among the elderly than in children, although he cited two recent deaths of children under 5 who had tested positive for the infection.
The Ministry of Health said a 4-year-old girl died on July 17 pneumonia after testing positive for Covid-19, and an 18-month-old boy who had the infection died after suffering a high fever and recurrent seizures on June 27.
Both children had been previously well and had no medical history.
The Senior Minister of State added that the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants have not been found to affect children more severely than previous variants and that severe infections are still rare among children, particularly for those who have been vaccinated against Covid.
Children from the ages of five to 11, who began receiving their vaccine jabs late last year, may need booster shots “to keep (their) protection levels high”, he added.
MOH is preparing to roll these out as well.
“We’ll continue to monitor the incidence of severe illness and deaths due to Covid-19 closely and adjust our processes to protect our healthcare system and our patients. We ask everyone to take the necessary precautions and remain socially responsible,” The Straits Times quotes Dr Janil as saying.
In Hong Kong, where there have been two children under the age of three who succumbed to Covid, health experts recommended Covid shots for children as young as 6 months on Monday (Aug 1).
The latest fatality in this age group was a 22-month-old girl who died after contracting Covid-19 last week. /TISG
Second child under-12 COVID death in Singapore: 4-year-old girl with no past medical history