SINGAPORE - About 20,000 children have received their first Covid-19 vaccine shot since the paediatric vaccination drive kicked off on Dec 27, said Education Minister Chan Chun Sing.

And more than six in 10 Primary 4 to 6 pupils have booked a slot to get their jabs, he added. 

Mr Chan also said about 8,600 new registrations have come in for children aged nine to 11 who are not enrolled in Ministry of Education (MOE) schools. 

Mr Chan, in a Facebook post on Sunday morning (Jan 2), said these numbers were only possible with the support of parents, and the hard work of public and healthcare officers.

He said: "With a good vaccination rate in our primary school students, we certainly look forward to 2022 being a more normal school year for our children as we carefully consider how to safely resume more activities in the coming months."

In his post, Mr Chan said seven more vaccination centres will start operating on Monday, in addition to the seven centres already in operation, to support the roll-out of the vaccines to Primary 1 to 3 pupils.

The Pfizer-BioNTech/Comirnaty Covid-19 vaccine is the only one currently approved for children aged five to 11 in Singapore. They are given a third of the dose used for adults.

Mr Chan said parents with questions about vaccinating their children can join an MOE webinar on Jan 5, held in collaboration with the Health Ministry and the Early Childhood Development Agency.

It will be held from 7.30pm to 8.30pm at this website and is open to 3,000 participants on a first-come, first-served basis. The passcode to enter the webinar is "5janvac".

Mr Chan said he encourages parents who have queries to join the webinar, and to submit questions ahead of the session here.