Catch the latest news video reports on The Big Story, The Straits Times' weekday online news programme.

Singapore has seen 10 cases of children aged five to 11 with serious side effects after vaccination, said the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) in its latest vaccine safety update on Wednesday (Feb 23).

This departs from its previous update, in which no such cases were reported.

Serious side effects include seizures, appendicitis, drops in blood pressure, allergic reactions, abnormal kidney function and swelling of small blood vessels.

There have been no cases of myocarditis or pericarditis - two heart-related conditions sometimes reported after vaccination - among children so far, HSA said.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Tuesday night reiterated its call for the public to refrain from rushing to hospitals with non-emergency conditions, as Singapore saw a record high of 26,032 Covid-19 cases.

The previous highest number of cases recorded was 19,420 on Feb 15.

While the number of patients needing oxygen supplementation and intensive care unit care is not high, there has been a surge in demand for hospital beds, mostly for patients with underlying chronic illnesses to recover, said MOH.

Associate Professor Alex Cook, vice-dean of research at NUS' Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, weighs in on these developments.

And in this week's Living Well segment, Dr Liana Koe, an obstetrician and gynaecologist at STO+G Laparoscopy and Fertility Practice, talks about how women can manage period pain.