On Jan. 21, the Multi-Ministry Task Force (MTF) announced that the Covid-19 booster vaccination programme will be extended to individuals aged 12 to 17 years old.

Booster vaccine for ages 12 to 17

The Ministry of Health (MOH) will progressively invite individuals to receive their booster dose from early February 2022.

This will start with those aged 16 and 17 years old, followed by those aged 12 to 15 years old.

These individuals will require the consent of their parent/guardian to book an appointment.

Parents/guardians of these individuals will receive an SMS with a personalised booking link to the mobile number that they had registered with for the primary series, to provide consent and book their child/ward's booster vaccination appointment.

They can be boosted in any vaccination centre offering the Pfizer-BioNTech/ Comirnaty vaccine and should bring along their student identification, or if not available, other forms of identification like birth certificate or passport for verification purposes.

Parents don't need accompany children 13 and above

Parents/guardians of children/wards aged 13 and above are not required to accompany them on the day of vaccination.

However, children/wards aged 12 and below, and students in Special Education (SPED) schools will need to be accompanied by a parent/guardian, as per the arrangements for the primary series vaccination.

MOH and the Health Promotion Board will work with SPED schools, and more details will be shared by SPED schools at a later date.

Individuals who are medically ineligible for the Pfizer-BioNTech/ Comirnaty vaccine will be offered a Sinovac-CoronaVac booster dose under a dedicated public health programme.

The programme will also be extended to children aged 5 to 11 years who are medically ineligible for the Pfizer-BioNTech/ Comirnaty vaccine for their primary vaccination series.

Participants in the public health programme will be closely monitored by trained medical personnel.

MOH will contact eligible persons with detailed instructions.

Not considered fully vaccinated after Mar. 14

As announced previously, from Feb. 14, persons aged 18 and above who have completed the primary vaccination series and are eligible for booster vaccination will be considered as fully vaccinated for only 270 days after the last dose in their primary vaccination series.

Upon receiving the booster, they will continue to maintain their vaccinated status.

With the immediate extension of eligibility for booster doses to individuals aged 12 to 17 years old, starting from Mar. 14, persons aged 12 to 17 will similarly be considered fully vaccinated for only 270 days after their last primary series dose.

They will require a booster dose to maintain their vaccinated status thereafter.

Persons who have recovered from Covid-19 and have completed their primary series vaccination do not require an additional booster dose at this point in time.

They will continue to be considered fully vaccinated after Feb. 14.

However, it is safe for such persons to receive a booster dose from five months after their last dose and vaccination centres will not turn away such individuals.

Persons aged 12 years and above who have been offered the booster dose are advised to not delay receiving the booster dose beyond nine months after the last dose of their primary vaccination series.

Top image from Chan Chun Sing's Facebook page.