Preschools will continue to have safe management measures (SMMs) to minimise risk of transmission. These include health screening, good personal hygiene practices among children and staff, high environmental hygiene standards, ensuring that children interact only within their respective cohorts and restricting casual visitors. Staff and children who are unwell will not be allowed to enter the premises and can only return when they have fully recovered.

These precautionary measures are in place to help preschools remain safe for children to learn, play and develop.

Parents also play an important role to keep preschools safe. We urge parents to monitor the health of your child and see a doctor if your child is unwell. Your child should rest at home and return to preschool only when he/she has fully recovered.

To protect our young children and reduce the risk of transmission within the preschool, the Ministry of Health (MOH) continues to strongly encourage young children above 2 years old to use a mask or face shield, especially if they are in a group setting or when interacting with others. In line with MOH’s guidance, all preschool children above 2 years are strongly encouraged to wear a mask or face shield in the preschool. This is to protect all children and staff in the preschool.

As some children may have difficulty wearing a mask, preschools will exercise flexibility for these children. There may also be times during the day where it may not be practical or safe for children to wear masks/ face shields such as during meals, nap time or when children are taking part in vigorous activities.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) plan to gradually ease mask-wearing requirements in schools, preschools and Early Intervention Centres to better support children’s learning and development needs. For a start from 29 March 2022, MOE and ECDA have progressively offered selected teachers and students¹ with additional/developmental needs the flexibility to remove their masks during language and literacy lessons.

We will gradually extend the mask-off pilot to more settings to support children’s learning and development.

¹The mask-off provision will be offered to Government-funded Early Intervention centres running the Early Intervention Programme for Children and Infants (EIPIC) from 29 March 2022. EIPIC centres can opt to provide mask-off teaching for children who have hearing or speech related development needs during the conduct of language and literacy lessons

Children who are unwell (e.g. have symptoms of fever, cough or runny nose) should see a doctor and return to preschool only when fully recovered. This is necessary to safeguard the health of all other children and staff and to minimise the risk of transmission of infectious diseases in the preschool.

Yes, preschools may carry out outdoor activities for children. Staff and children are encouraged to wear a mask (or face shield for children) outdoors when engaged in less strenuous outdoor activities (e.g. taking a walk in the neighbourhood), for personal protection.

Yes. Since 10 November 2021, parents have been allowed to accompany their newly enrolled child in the preschool to support their child adjust to the new environment. Parents may accompany their child for half a day for the first 2 days of preschool. For children with additional needs, preschools will exercise flexibility and give these parents more time.

No. From 26 April 2022, parents of pre-schoolers may enter the preschool premises only for the following purposes:

• Accompany newly enrolled children (for half a day on the first 2 days)

• Attend parent-teacher conference

• Support the preschool’s programme as volunteers

As the COVID-19 infection rates have stabilised, MOH will stop issuing Health Risk Notices (HRNs) to close contacts from 26 April 2022. Individuals are encouraged to exercise social responsibility. For example, COVID-19 positive persons should inform their close contacts so that the contacts can take the necessary precautions under Protocol 3, i.e. test themselves to be negative before leaving their homes, to prevent further spread.

In line with the national posture, when a staff or child tests positive for COVIID-19, preschools are required to notify parents and closely monitor the health of the close contacts.

In addition, preschools will continue to adhere to safe management measures, including conducting regular cleaning and disinfection of the premises to minimise the risk of transmission.

Parents should inform your child’s preschool if he/she has tested positive for COVID-19 or had recent contact with an infected person. We urge parents to monitor the health of your child and see a doctor if your child is unwell. Your child should rest at home and return to preschool only when he/she has fully recovered. Children who have had recent exposure to a confirmed case (e.g. household member or classmate) should self-test before leaving the house.

Yes, your child may return to preschool, if well.

We urge parents to exercise social responsibility to protect the children and staff in preschools. Parents should inform your child’s preschool if he/she has recent contact with an infected person. We also urge parents to monitor the health of your child. While preschools are no longer required to request parents to produce proof of a negative Antigen Rapid Test (ART) result, we encourage parents to administer an ART on their child before leaving the house.

In line with the national protocols, your child is required to isolate for at least 72 hours. If your child tests ART negative after the 72 hours, and is well, your child can return to the preschool. Please show proof of your child’s negative ART result to the preschool.

If your child tests positive after 72 hours, he/she needs to continue to self-test. Your child can return to the preschool if well, when (a) he/she has a negative ART result or (b) on Day 7 (12pm) regardless of whether your child tests ART positive or negative. Your child does not need to produce a discharge or recovery memo from the doctor when he/she returns to preschool.

COVID-19 vaccination can help protect your child from getting COVID-19, and protect them from getting very ill if they do get infected.

Although fewer children have been seriously ill with COVID-19 compared to adults, they can, in some cases, become seriously ill or develop severe COVID-19 complications, such as MIS-C (Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children). There is a higher risk of developing severe disease if they have underlying medical conditions.

If your child is not vaccinated, they could carry the virus and spread it to others. Vaccination protects them and makes them less likely to infect others, including you and vulnerable family members like older relatives or persons with weakened immune systems.

The Health Sciences Authority (HSA), a statutory board under the Ministry of Health, and the Expert Committee on COVID-19 Vaccination (EC19V) have reviewed the safety and efficacy of the Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine based on the clinical trials for children aged 5 to 11.

On 10 December 2021, both the HSA and the EC19V authorised the vaccine for children in this age group, as the vaccine is safe and effective for children and that benefits of the Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty vaccine outweigh the risks. This was further supported by the Ministry of Health at the Multi-Ministry Taskforce Press Conference on the same day.

The safety profile of the Pfizer vaccine in the younger population is consistent with the known safety profile in the population aged 12 and above. Common side effects in children who received the vaccine were generally mild to moderate. These resolve on their own within a few days, and include injection site pain, fatigue, headache, injection site redness and swelling, muscle aches and chills. Children in this age group had fewer systemic side effects compared to persons 16-25 years of age.

While there were no cases of anaphylaxis seen in the study of the vaccine, the risk of anaphylaxis or allergy can be expected to be comparable to that observed in adolescents and young adults. While the rare risk of myocarditis and/or pericarditis cannot be dismissed, similar to what has been reported in adolescents and young adults, no cases of myocarditis/pericarditis were observed in the vaccine trial among the children aged 5 to 11 years.

You can find out more from the HSA Website: https://www.hsa.gov.sg/announcements/press-release/pfizercomirnaty_children

Parents may refer to the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) website for more details on child vaccination: https://www.moh.gov.sg/covid-19/vaccination/faqs---children-related-vaccination-matters

If you choose to vaccinate your child, please keep your child’s preschool informed of your child’s vaccination dates. This is to allow the teachers to help to monitor your child for any side effects after the vaccination. Generally mild to moderate, the side effects may be experienced when the body is responding to the vaccine. Examples include pain, redness and swelling at injection sites, fatigue, headache, muscle aches and chills, but these side effects tend to resolve on their own within a few days. Children who are unwell should rest at home and return to their preschool only when they have recovered.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has also advised that children should avoid strenuous physical activity (e.g. running, swimming, cycling and ball/racket games) for two weeks after their first and second doses. With knowledge of your child’s vaccination dates, the preschool will exempt him/her from physical activities for two weeks after each dose.

You may bring your child to any of the paediatric vaccination centres to receive his/her vaccination without the need for a prior appointment. This general walk-in arrangement is available every day of the week, before 7pm.

Parents are also encouraged to release any bookings made should they wish to vaccinate their child under this walk-in arrangement.

All children aged 5 to 11 must also be accompanied by one parent/guardian at the vaccination centres. The full list of paediatric vaccinations centres can be found on https://www.vaccine.gov.sg/locations-vcs.

There are currently no specific plans for introducing additional Vaccination-Differentiated Safe Management measures (VDS) targeted at young children. The focus is to ensure that children are well protected by vaccination. We strongly encourage parents of children aged 5 and above to get them vaccinated, if they are medically eligible.