Walk-in Covid-19 vaccination appointments available for children aged 5 to 11 starting Jan. 25

The walk-in arrangement will be available from Mondays to Thursdays.

Jane Zhang | January 24, 2022, 05:15 PM

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From Tuesday (Jan. 25), parents will no longer need to register ahead of time for Covid-19 vaccination appointments for their children between the ages of five and 11, with the introduction of a new general walk-in arrangement for Mondays through Thursdays.

However, appointments will still be required on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, due to the high demand for appointment bookings on these days.

Walk-in arrangement

In a joint press release on Monday (Jan. 24), the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) announced that from Mondays to Thursdays, children between the ages of 5 and 11 do not need a prior appointment to get their first Covid-19 vaccination.

Instead, they can walk in with their parents or guardians to any of the 15 paediatric vaccination centres. They should arrive at the vaccination centre by 7pm.

For children intending to get vaccinated at Yusof Ishak Secondary School (YISS), they should arrive with their parent or guardian by 5pm on Tuesdays through Thursdays. The YISS vaccination centre is closed on Mondays.

Parents and guardians will need to bring along the following:

  • Their child's student identification or, if that is not available, other forms of identification such as birth certificate, passport, or SingPass for verification.
  • A signed hard or soft copy of the parental consent form, available online here.

The walk-in arrangement currently applies only to Mondays through Thursdays, as vaccination centres are unable to accommodate the arrangement on Fridays to Sundays because of the high demand in appointment bookings on those days.

"We seek the understanding and cooperation of parents/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.

Parents and guardians are encouraged to release any bookings they have made if they wish to vaccinate their child under the walk-in arrangement.

Over 160,000 children aged 5 to 11 have gotten first dose

In December 2021, MOE and ECDA announced that the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) had approved the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty Covid-19 vaccine for use in children in Singapore above the age of five.

Booking for appointments began on Dec. 22.

As of Jan. 23, close to 160,000 children between the ages of five and 11 have received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. More than 13,000 children have received their second dose.

More than 6,000 children have taken advantage of the sibling walk-in arrangement, which began on Jan. 10.

70 per cent of students in MOE primary schools have registered for vaccination, with 85 per cent of Primary Six students having done so.

More than 23,000 children between the ages of five and 11 have been registered for their Covid-19 vaccinations on the MOH National Appointment System, of whom over 13,000 were born between 2016 and 2017 and are of typical pre-school age.

More than 10,000 children from ECDA-licensed preschools and MOE kindergartens have registered their interest.

Vaccination key to protecting children: MOE, ECDA

"Vaccination is a key measure to protect our children against Covid-19 infection and especially against severe outcomes," said MOE and ECDA.

"With the rise in cases locally and the Omicron variant already on our shores, we strongly encourage parents/guardians to get their child/ward fully vaccinated as soon as possible.

This will also be a key factor in whether our schools can resume more activities that are important to the holistic development of our children."

In a Facebook post on Monday, Minister for Education Chan Chun Sing noted that the number of children becoming infected with Covid-19 locally has been increasing.

"In other countries, the number of children without vaccination getting seriously ill is also rising. The upcoming festive period will see more social interactions. It is also essential for our children to enjoy a broad spectrum of activities as part of their holistic development."

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Top photo via Facebook / Chan Chun Sing.