Siblings aged 5 to 11 can take COVID-19 vaccine jabs together from Jan 10

SINGAPORE: From Jan 10, walk-ins will be accepted for all accompanying siblings of a child with a prior COVID-19 vaccination appointment from Mondays to Thursdays. 

This is to "provide greater convenience" for parents or guardians with more than one child or ward aged five to 11 and to optimise the available vaccination capacity on those days, said the Ministry of Education (MOE) and Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) on Monday (Jan 3). 

Those who intend to vaccinate their children or wards under the "sibling walk-in" arrangement should arrive at the vaccination centre by 7pm from Mondays to Thursdays. 

They should also bring along their child's student identification, or other forms of identification such as birth certificate, passport or SingPass of all children or wards receiving the jab for verification. 

For those intending to vaccinate their child or ward under the arrangement at the paediatric vaccination centre at Yusof Ishak Secondary School, they should arrive at the centre by 5pm. The vaccination centre at the school will begin operations on Jan 11. 

Parents or guardians who have booked separate appointments for different children or wards are encouraged to keep only "one desired slot" and cancel the remaining bookings on the Ministry of Health National Appointment System, said MOE and ECDA. 

As the children must be accompanied by one parent or guardian, "it would suffice for one adult to be present" for children going for the same vaccination appointment, said the authorities. 

"However, we will exercise flexibility and allow one parent (or) guardian per child, should there be requests from the parent (or) guardian."

The sibling walk-in arrangement is currently unavailable from Fridays to Sundays due to high demand in appointment bookings for the next few weekends, said MOE and ECDA. 

"We seek the understanding and cooperation of parents to ensure we can provide a smooth and orderly vaccination process for all our children, and will continue to work with MOH to consider further operational enhancements to the paediatric vaccination arrangements," they said.

Singapore began vaccinating children aged five to 11 on Dec 27. 

INCREASE CAPACITY 

On Monday, seven more paediatric vaccination centres began offering vaccinations for children aged five to 11. 

"We are now ready to support the next phase of the paediatric vaccination roll-out, with increased capacity and greater convenience to parents so that all medically eligible children can be vaccinated as soon as possible," said MOE and ECDA. 

As of Jan 2, 6pm, more than six in 10 of Primary 4 to 6 students in MOE primary schools have registered for their jabs. Another 9,000 children aged nine to 11 who are not in MOE primary schools have also registered their interest on the MOH appointment system. 

From Wednesday, about 110,000 parents or guardians of Primary 1 to 3 students in MOE primary schools can expect to "progressively" receive a unique link via SMS to book a vaccination appointment. 

Parents or guardians of all remaining children aged five to eight may proceed to register their interest on the appointment system from Jan 6. 

After registration, they can expect to receive a unique link via SMS within three to five working days to book an appointment.

WEBINAR ON PAEDIATRIC VACCINATION ON JAN 5

There will be a webinar for parents or guardians on Wednesday from 7.30pm to 8.30pm to address concerns or queries that they may have on COVID-19 vaccination for children. 

The webinar is held by MOE, in collaboration with the Health Ministry and ECDA. 

It is open to 3,000 participants on a first-come, first-served basis. Parents or guardians can attend the webinar via https://go.gov.sg/5janvaccinewebinar/ with the meeting passcode 5janvac. 

They can also submit their questions before the session at the link above. 

Parents or guardians are strongly encouraged to get their child or ward vaccinated as soon as they receive the invitation, said MOE and ECDA. 

"This is our key measure to keep our children, families and wider community safe and resilient against COVID-19." 

Students will be deemed to be on medical leave if they receive their vaccination during school hours, or feel unwell from the vaccination. 

Schools will make the necessary arrangements to help them with schoolwork if needed, as well as ensure that students do not engage in physically strenuous activities for two weeks after vaccination, added the authorities.