SINGAPORE - Almost nine in 10 students from graduating cohorts have signed up to be vaccinated against Covid-19, and half of them have received their first doses, Education Minister Chan Chun Sing said on Monday (June 7).

About four in five polytechnic and first-year junior college students have registered for vaccination, as have five out of seven students from Primary 6 to Secondary 3.

Students in autonomous universities will be invited to sign up for their jabs from Tuesday, Mr Chan said.

Giving an update on the Covid-19 vaccination exercise for students, Mr Chan said in a Facebook post that the Ministry of Education (MOE) vaccination centre at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) College Central began operations on Monday.

It is the first of four dedicated MOE vaccination centres to open, with the other three to be progressively opened in the coming days.

In his post, the minister thanked the MOE, ITE, and the Health Promotion Board for quickly getting the new vaccination centres set up.

He said he had spoken to parents and students and was very encouraged that students were keen to register themselves early.

"They told me they wanted to protect themselves, their families and friends. They also said it would better provide them peace of mind in preparing for their year-end exams," Mr Chan said.

When The Straits Times visited ITE College Central on Monday, some students turned up for their appointments alone, while others were accompanied by their parents.

Anderson-Serangoon Junior College student Edsel Lim, 18, said he had intended to get vaccinated from the time he heard that students were being invited to sign up.

"It's just socially responsible to do so," he added.

Sengkang Secondary School student Hannah Hisham, 16, who was there with her mother, said her parents encouraged her to get jabbed early, in case the coronavirus infection rate goes up.

"It's just best to get it over and done with," she said.

Mr Chase Lim, 24, a student at Temasek Polytechnic, said he was about to start an internship and wanted to get the vaccine so he could go to work in the office safely.

He added that everyone he knew from his polytechnic had vaccination appointments.

Mr Chan said in his post he was grateful for Singaporeans' understanding of the need to prioritise students in the national vaccination effort.

"We will continue reaching out to our students and families who need more help to register and get their vaccinations done," he added.