SINGAPORE, Jan 25 — From today, children in Singapore aged five to 11 will be able to go to any paediatric vaccination centre with their parents or guardians to get a first dose of Covid-19 vaccine without the need for appointment.

This is applicable only for those who intend to get vaccinated from Mondays to Thursdays, the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) said in a news release on Monday.

With this change, parents or guardians who now have to first register for the vaccine for their children will no longer have to wait up to five working days to receive a unique booking link via SMS to book an appointment for the jab — unless they want to do the vaccination Fridays to Sundays.

The vaccination centres are not able to accommodate the general walk-in arrangement on Fridays to Sundays due to high demand in appointment bookings on these days, MOE and ECDA said.

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Those who intend to get their children vaccinated from Mondays to Thursdays are encouraged to release any bookings made.

They are also advised to arrive at the vaccination centres by 7pm.

“We seek the understanding and cooperation of parents or guardians to keep to the stipulated days and hours for the general walk-in arrangement, to ensure that we can provide a smooth and orderly vaccination process for all our children,” MOE and ECDA said.

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Parents or guardians should take along the child’s student identification — or other forms of identification — on the day of vaccination for verification purposes.

They will also be required to bring a signed hard or soft copy of the parental consent form.

Updates on vaccination progress

MOE and ECDA said that as of Sunday, close to 160,000 children aged five to 11 have received their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, while more than 13,000 children have since received their second dose.

In addition, more than 6,000 children have taken advantage of the “sibling walk-in” arrangement.

At the same time, 70 per cent of students in MOE primary schools have registered for vaccination, with 85 per cent of Primary 6 students having done so.

“We have also received more than 23,000 registrations from all children aged five to 11 on the MOH National Appointment System at child.vaccine.gov.sg.

“Of these, there are over 13,000 children of typical preschool age… with more than 10,000 children from ECDA-licensed preschools and MOE Kindergartens having registered their interest,” MOE and ECDA said.

In a Facebook post on Monday, Education Minister Chan Chun Sing said that the authorities “want to do all we can to keep our children safe”. 

“While we are now better positioned to protect them and our community against the rising Omicron wave, we cannot let our guard down.

“The number of children infected has been increasing locally.

“In other countries, the number of children without vaccination getting seriously ill is also rising… Getting our children vaccinated early will give us greater confidence in safeguarding our children’s health while allowing them to resume more social activities in our schools and community,” Mr Chan added.

To register a child eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine, go to child.vaccine.gov.sg. For a copy of the parental consent form, it may be downloaded at https://go.gov.sg/parcf. — TODAY