More than half of primary school pupils have signed up for Covid-19 vaccination: Chan Chun Sing

SINGAPORE - More than half of Singapore's primary school pupils have signed up to get vaccinated, said Education Minister Chan Chun Sing on Friday (Jan 7) at a paediatric vaccination centre in Yusof Ishak Secondary School.

Around 42,000, out of about 220,000 pupils, are done with their first shot; and more than 70 per cent of Primary 4 to 6 pupils and one-third of Primary 1 to 3 children have signed up in the last few days.

About 70 pupils arrived at the centre on Friday, ahead of its official opening next Tuesday, to get inoculated as part of the centre's trial run.

It is currently the only vaccination centre dedicated to children and can inoculate about 600 children a day once operations go into full swing.

In addition to the 14 other paediatric vaccination centres islandwide that operate alongside adult vaccinations, a total of 11,000 children will be reached daily.

Ms Nurul Fairuz, 33, was among the crowd of parents who took their children for their first dose of the vaccine.

Her son, eight-year-old Khaizuran Khairuddin, said he was nervous while waiting for his turn but was relieved to feel only a bit of pain when he got injected.

Ms Nurul said the 15-minute process took a shorter time than expected. Though it was a pleasant experience overall, she hoped the centre would consider allocating one child to each booth as she was afraid other children might be influenced by the fear of the child getting his injection.

"Since there are two kids getting their shots in the same booth, if one of them is scared and starts shouting, the other child might get scared too," said the mother of three.

Speaking to the media at the centre, Mr Chan said the vaccination take-up rate is hopeful.

"We hope that the parents, having got more information, will sign up their medically eligible children as soon as possible," he said.

"Chinese New Year is coming, so I'm quite sure there will be quite a lot of intermingling during that period, and we want to keep our children safe. And we also want our children to play a part in keeping their families safe."

The dedicated centre in Sumang Walk is manned by staff from the Health Promotion Board, and there are ushers at barriers on the school grounds to ensure those going for vaccination do not mingle with the secondary school's students.

Ms Agnes Ng, a nurse at the centre, said the difference between dealing with adult and child vaccinations is the time needed to prepare the young ones.

"Kids need more time. So when we explain the procedure, we actually go through the steps and mimic the actions before doing them so that they have a better understanding and cooperate," she said.

The children are encouraged to take along their favourite toy to comfort them, and cartoons are shown on televisions in the observation area to keep them entertained.

From Jan 11, the centre will be open from 10am to 5pm from Tuesday to Saturday.