Last Saturday (11 Dec), the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced its approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to be administered to children aged 5 to 11.
This followed a recommendation from the expert committee on COVID-19 vaccination, which said that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks posed to young children, especially with the emergence of the Omicron variant.
Parents must have been pleased with this development, despite the fact that older people have generally been more susceptible to severe disease when infected.
Well, they may not have to wait that long to get their kids inoculated.
Kids 5 to 11 Years Old Can Book COVID-19 Vaccine Slots From Next Week If Doses Arrive as Scheduled
If paediatric doses of the vaccine arrive in time, children aged five to 11 could start booking their appointments as early as next week.
Older children – those aged nine to 11 – will be invited to book an appointment first from the end of December, followed by the younger children in early 2022.
The authorities have yet to confirm the date of arrival of the doses, however.
Smaller Doses
Children in this age group will receive smaller doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, specifically one-third of that used for those 12 and above.
Their two doses will also be spaced apart at 21 days.
Just as is the case with adults, it was recommended that children with moderate to severe chronic medical conditions be given priority to make appointments.
In total, more than 300,000 children aged 5 to 11 could be involved in the mass vaccination drive.
90% Efficacy & Milder Side Effects
Earlier, Senior Minister of State for Health Dr Janil Puthucheary pointed to a study that documented the effects of the vaccine on younger children.
In a study of over 2,000 children aged 5 to 11 years, the vaccine efficacy was estimated to be 90.7%.
In addition, side effects such as injection site pain, fatigue, headache, chills and fever were generally reported less frequently and were milder in severity in the children compared to adolescents.
More importantly, there were also no cases of anaphylaxis or myocarditis/pericarditis in the study, which will surely reassure any parents who are concerned.
As of 19 Nov, those under the age of 12 accounted for 11.2% of all COVID-19 cases here. And just a month earlier children made up 6.7% of all infections.
As MOH noted, vaccination and boosters will provide the best protection against the Omicron variant, which is highly transmissible.
On the same day it approved vaccinations for children, the health ministry also approved booster shots for those aged between 18 and 29 years from today (14 Dec), as long as they completed their vaccination regimen at least five months ago.
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