100,000 Children Aged Five to 11 Have Received First Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine

1. As of today, more than 100,000 children aged 5 to 11 have already received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

2. About 2 in 5 Primary 1 to 6 students in MOE primary schools have received their first dose of vaccination.

3. There has also been good uptake of the "sibling walk-in" arrangement, with more than 2,800 children vaccinated under this arrangement from Monday to Thursday in its first week of implementation. On average, this meant that for every five vaccination appointments made, we saw one sibling who had walked in for their jab.

4. Mobile vaccination teams comprising staff from the Health Promotion Board, who are experienced in supporting students with special needs, have been progressively deployed to 12 out of 20 Special Education (SPED) schools since 12 January 2022 (Wednesday). 2 in 3 students in SPED schools have registered for vaccination to date.

5. From 17 January 2022 (Monday), we would be moving to the next phase of the paediatric vaccination roll-out with children progressively receiving their second dose of the vaccine¹.

6. Vaccination will help to protect our children as well as those around us who are unable to get vaccinated against COVID-19 for medical reasons. We strongly encourage parents/guardians to get their medically eligible child/ward vaccinated as soon as possible, ahead of the upcoming festive period where there might be more social gatherings, and to be as prepared as possible for the expected Omicron wave.

Footnotes

1. The paediatric vaccination exercise for 5 – 11 year olds began on 27 December 2021.