SINGAPORE - All 3,300 slots at the seven designated paediatric vaccination centres were fully taken up on Monday (Dec 27), the first day the national vaccination programme was extended to Primary 4 to 6 pupils.

In an update on Monday night, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said the first day of vaccinations for this group of pupils had gone smoothly.

MOE added that operations will be ramped up at the centres in the coming days.

It said the remaining eight vaccination centres will open in January and that more vaccination slots will be released.

This is to facilitate registrations for Primary 1 to 3 pupils in MOE schools and madrasahs from Jan 5, and all remaining children aged five to eight via the national appointment system from Jan 6.

MOE said the centres will later allow more vaccination appointments daily.

MOE had said last week that more than one in three children who were invited to be vaccinated have been signed up by their parents, and that slots in December have been fully booked.

Last Tuesday, MOE announced that the national vaccination programme would be extended to children aged five to 11.

The paediatric dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty Covid-19 vaccine - the only brand currently approved for children aged five to 11 in Singapore - is 0.2ml, compared with 0.3ml for adults.