SINGAPORE — Singapore will roll out Covid-19 vaccinations for children aged six months to four years as well as booster jabs for those between five and 11 years old starting from Oct 25.

Children under five years old will receive two 25-microgram doses of pharmaceutical firm Moderna’s Spikevax vaccine, spaced eight weeks apart, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a statement on Friday (Oct 7).

This is a quarter of the dose used in the primary vaccination series for adults.

MOH said clinical data showed that the risk of severe Covid-19 in young children is generally very low, but there is still a higher risk of hospitalisation compared to older children and severe disease can occur.

Children under five years old should therefore be vaccinated.

"This protection would be important with ongoing transmission of the BA.2.75 and BA.2.10 subvariants, and the possibility of future Covid-19 variants," MOH said.

Pfizer-BioNTech’s Comirnaty vaccine, which for children under five years old will comprise three doses, has also been approved for this age group, MOH said. It is awaiting delivery and expects to roll them out by the end of the year.

BOOSTERS FOR CHILDREN

Children who are five to 11 years old will receive their booster dose with Pfizer's Comirnaty vaccine.

Parents or guardians of eligible children from this age group will receive a text message to book a slot for their jab via a personalised link provided.

Domestic and international data has shown that antibody levels and vaccine protection against Covid-19 hospitalisation decline with time in children who are five to 11 years old, just as they do with adolescents and adults, MOH said.

“The Pfizer-BioNTech (Comirnaty) booster will help sustain protection against severe disease,” it added. “Side effects are generally mild, similar to those from the first two doses.”

WHERE TO GET VACCINATED

Five designated vaccination centres will begin operations from Oct 25 to deliver the Covid-19 vaccinations to children from both age groups. 

They will be located at: 

• One Punggol
• Our Tampines Hub
• Queenstown Community Centre
• Sembawang Community Club
• Taman Jurong Community Club

Some polyclinics and selected Public Health Preparedness Clinics will also come onboard the vaccination programme for children. 

Besides the five vaccination centres that will serve children from both age groups, the polyclinics and clinics on this programme will now offer only either the Moderna vaccine for children under five years old or the Pfizer vaccine for children who are five to 11 years old.

These vaccination sites will not accept walk-ins for the time being, MOH said.

The ministry will also deploy mobile vaccination teams for children aged five to 11 in special education schools from Oct 25 and the government-funded Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children (EIPIC) centres from Nov 28. 

The teams will offer both the primary series and booster vaccinations for these children. The special education schools and EIPIC centres will keep parents and guardians updated on further details, MOH said.

All children who are six months to 11 years old must be accompanied by a parent or guardian on the day of the vaccination. 

MOH urged parents or guardians to take along a form of identification for verification. These may be the child’s student identification document, health booklet, birth certificate, passport or the e-authentification application Singpass.

Children receiving other non-Covid-19 vaccinations are recommended to wait at least 14 days before or after taking their Covid-19 jabs.

Individuals who are three years old and above and are medically ineligible for the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines will be offered Sinovac’s CoronaVac vaccine under a dedicated public health programme. 

MOH will contact eligible persons with detailed instructions, it said.

MODERNA VACCINE ‘SAFE’ FOR YOUNG CHILDREN

The move to vaccinate young children aged six months to four years came after the expert committee on Covid-19 vaccination recommended that Moderna’s Spikevax vaccine for this age group is safe and should be taken as soon as available.

The committee had in August already recommended boosters for children who are five to 11 years old.

In a separate statement on Friday, the expert committee in Singapore said studies have shown that two 25-microgram doses of the Moderna vaccine in children aged six months to four years result in antibody levels comparable with those achieved in young adults vaccinated with the adult dosage.

“This immune response is expected to provide a high level of protection against severe disease and a moderate level of protection against infection,” the committee said.

Domestic data from vaccinated children who are five to 11 years old has also shown that the primary vaccination cuts hospitalisation due to the Omicron Covid-19 variant by more than 80 per cent.

The committee expects similar levels of protection in the younger age group.

Common side effects — such as fever, swelling and pain at the injection site — were observed less commonly than in adults and are similar with side effects for other childhood vaccinations, the committee said.

Serious adverse reactions were rare, with no cases of anaphylaxis (a severe and potentially life-threatening allergic reaction), pericarditis or myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle or tissue) observed in the clinical trial, it added.

“The risks of pericarditis or myocarditis are expected to be very low in this age group.” 

The committee noted that vaccination for Covid-19 has already been recommended for children under five years old in several other countries including Australia, Canada, Israel and the United States, where more than one million children in this age group have received as least one dose.

Parents or guardians who want to get children vaccinated may register their interest to receive the Moderna vaccine from Oct 18 at https://child.vaccine.gov.sg. After registration, a personalised booking link will be sent via a phone text message within three to five working days.

To locate the nearest vaccination site available for child or ward, go to https://www.gowhere.gov.sg/vaccine.