Press Releases
Letter to Parents-Protecting Our Children From Covid-19 Through Vaccination
03 Jan 2022
- Since the paediatric vaccination started on 27 December 2021, more than 6 in 10 of Primary 4 to 6 students in MOE primary schools have registered for vaccination. From 3 January 2022, seven more paediatric Vaccination Centres (VCs) have started offering
vaccinations for children aged 5 to 11. The Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of Education (MOE) and Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) 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.
- From 6 January 2022, parents/guardians of all children aged 5 to 8, including those enrolled in ECDA licensed preschools, may proceed to register their interest on the MOH National Appointment System (NAS) at child.vaccine.gov.sg. After registration, parents/guardians can expect to receive a unique link via SMS within 3 to 5 working days to book a vaccination appointment.
Children who turn 5 in 2022 must have crossed their 5th birthday before they are eligible to book an appointment and receive the vaccination.
“Sibling walk-in” Arrangement from Mondays to Thursdays - To provide greater convenience for parents/guardians with more than one child/ward aged 5 to 11 years, from 10 January 2022, all accompanying siblings of a child with an appointment on Mondays to Thursdays can walk in for their vaccination without prior appointment1.
Parents/guardians who intend to vaccinate their children/wards under the “sibling walk-in” arrangements should arrive at the vaccination centre by 7pm on Mondays to Thursdays2. If you have already booked separate appointments
for your children/wards but wish to leverage on the “sibling walk-in” arrangement, we encourage you to keep only one desired slot (on Monday to Thursday) and cancel the remaining bookings on NAS. Also, only one parent/guardian needs
to be present for all the children going for the same vaccination appointment. However, the VCs will exercise flexibility and allow one parent/guardian per child/ward if you have such a need.
- The VCs are currently unable to accommodate the sibling walk-in arrangement on Fridays to Sundays due to high demand in appointment bookings for the next few weekends. We seek the understanding and cooperation of parents/guardians to ensure we can
provide a smooth and orderly vaccination process for all our children. We will also continue to work with the VCs to consider further enhancements to the paediatric vaccination arrangements.
Webinar on Paediatric Vaccination - Parents/guardians are invited to a webinar jointly organised by MOE, MOH and ECDA on 5 January 2022 (Wednesday), 7.30pm to 8.30pm to address concerns or queries on COVID-19 vaccination for children. The webinar is open to 3,000 participants
on a first-come, first-served basis. Parents/guardians can attend the webinar via https://go.gov.sg/5janvaccinewebinar3 and
submit questions before the session.
- We also invite parents/guardians to participate in a short survey on COVID-19 vaccination for children: https://go.gov.sg/ecdavacsurvey
- If you choose to vaccinate your child/ward, please keep the preschool informed of your child/ward’s vaccination dates. The teachers will help to monitor your child/ward 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.
- 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/ward’s vaccination dates, the
preschool will exempt him/her from physical activities for two weeks after each dose.
- While COVID-19 vaccination is not mandatory, we encourage all medically eligible children aged 5 to 6 to be vaccinated when the vaccine is made available to them. This will help keep our children and the community around them safe. For more information
on the vaccination exercise for children aged 5 to 11, you may wish to refer to the following:
Keeping your child’s preschool informed
1Parents/guardians should bring along the Student Identification, or if not available, other forms of identification (e.g. Birth Certificate/Passport/SingPass) of all children/wards receiving the vaccination for verification.
2Parents/guardians who intend to vaccinate their children/wards under the “siblings walk-in” arrangement at the paediatric vaccination centre at Yusof Ishak Secondary School (YISS) should arrive at the VC by 5pm on Mondays to Thursdays. The VC at YISS will begin operations on 11 January 2021.
3To enter the webinar, please enter the meeting passcode: 5janvac.
Thank you.
Early Childhood Development Agency