Over 1 in 3 kids invited for Covid-19 vaccination have signed up

More than one in three children who were invited to be vaccinated have been signed up by their parents for vaccination, and slots in December 2021 have been fully booked, said the Ministry of Education (MOE) on Thursday (Dec 23).

This comes after the national Covid-19 vaccination programme was extended to children aged five to 11. Bookings opened on Wednesday (Dec 22) for Primary 4 to Primary 6 pupils in MOE schools and madrasahs.

About 110,000 SMS invitations were sent on Wednesday for parents to book appointments, said MOE. The text messages included a unique link to book a vaccination appointment.

In a Facebook post on Thursday night, Education Minister Chan Chun Sing said there has also been a “very good” take-up rate for weekend slots scheduled for January next year. 

He said parents should consider booking weekday slots, and that children who get vaccinated during school hours and later feel unwell will be given medical leave, adding that the Ministry of Manpower has urged employers to give their workers time off for their children’s vaccination. 

The opening of the National Appointment System will be brought forward by a day to Sunday (Dec 26), said MOE, adding that parents with children born between 2010 and 2012 can then register their interest to vaccinate their child at child.vaccine.gov.sg

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After registration, they will receive a unique link via SMS within three to five working days to book a vaccination appointment, said MOE. 

Mr Chan added that MOE had received questions from parents on what to do if their child is on the brink of turning 12. 

He said if the child has reached age 12 on the date of their first vaccination appointment, they should be given the adult dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty Covid-19 vaccine, and they can walk in for it at any of the 22 vaccination centres offering this vaccine. 

Mr Chan added: “The five to 11 age group is by far the largest remaining group of unvaccinated population in our midst, at over 300,000.”

“We strongly encourage parents/guardians to register their child/ward for vaccination when they receive the invitation, if they are medically eligible. 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 vaccination exercise begins next Monday (Dec 27) and will serve more than 300,000 children across 15 paediatric vaccination centres, MOE and the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) announced on Tuesday (Dec 21).

All children who are Singapore citizens, permanent residents and long-term pass holders are eligible for this vaccination exercise.

Locations of the 15 paediatric Vaccination Centres (VC):