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The Multi-Ministry Taskforce held a press conference on Thursday (Aug. 19) to share updates on the Covid-19 situation in Singapore.

Children aged below 12 to get vaccinated in early 2022

Speaking at the conference, Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung said that vaccination centres in Singapore will remain operating despite more people completing the vaccination regime.

This is because of three reasons:

1) To vaccinate the rest of the population,

2) Children aged below 12 have yet to receive vaccination, and

3) To administer booster shots

Ong said that children aged below 12 should be able to get vaccinated in early 2022, after the ministry of health (MOH) has properly studied the safety and efficacy aspects affecting the age group.

Booster shots

Ong also said that vaccination centres must remain open for Singapore to conduct a Covid-19 booster exercise.

In a press release on the same day, MOH explained that while a large proportion of Singapore's population is now vaccinated, the ministry is planning ahead to ensure that the population continues to be well protected from Covid-19 and its new variants as they arise.

According to MOH, the Expert Committee on Covid-19 Vaccination (EC19V) has been reviewing and monitoring the local and overseas data on vaccine boosters and is developing recommendations on Singapore’s booster strategy.

The EC19V is also looking at the need to enhance the immune response of certain groups of individuals. This includes the severely immunocompromised people who have a weaker immune response to vaccination despite completing a full vaccination regimen.

For this group, there may be benefits in administering a third dose of the vaccine for them.

Some considerations the committee have to take into account before finalising their recommendations include the incidence of adverse reactions, and whether the booster shot should be administered with the same vaccine, Ong elaborated at the press conference.

The EC19V will make its recommendations shortly, said MOH.

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Top image from Ministry of Education/FB.