With the Omicron spreading faster than a fart in a lift, the approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to be administered to children aged 5 to 11 couldn’t have come at a better time.
The expert committee on COVID-19 vaccination found that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks posed to young children, especially with the emergence of the Omicron variant, and the Ministry of Health (MOH) accepted their recommendation.
If vaccine supplies arrive in time, children aged five to 11 could start booking their appointments as early as next week (unless they’re geniuses, their parents will probably do the booking for them).
This is why the authorities have already started setting up paediatric vaccination centres.
S’pore Setting Up COVID-19 Vaccination Centres With Staff Trained in Paediatric Vaccination
Our health minister and Lost actor Ong Ye Kung headed to one of these centres recently, and detailed his visit in a Facebook post.
Mr Ong said the paediatric vaccination centre, which can vaccinate about 1,000 children a day, is gearing up to start work later this month.
“Lots of care was taken in designing the centre to clearly separate children and adult lanes. Even the computers used to input children’s records are marked differently, with a big superhero sticker,” he said.
Nice.
He said that parents will be allowed to accompany their child while at the centre, and that the staff members are specially trained in paediatric vaccination. There will also be paediatric experts supporting each vaccination centre, he added.
“When children are also vaccinated, families will be better protected,” he said.
300,000 Children Stand to Benefit
As Mr Ong noted in his post, around 300,000 children aged five to 11 years can benefit from greater protection, after clinical trials showed that vaccination is safe and effective.
Trials in the US on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine found that children aged five to 11 had fewer side effects compared with those aged between 16 and 25.
What’s more, there were also no cases of anaphylaxis or myocarditis/pericarditis in the study, which will surely reassure any parents who are concerned.
Children in the five-to-11 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.
5.5 million children in this age group in the US have already received their first doses, with 2.6 million completing two doses.
And so far, no safety concerns have been raised.
The paediatric vaccination centre will be just one of many that will open up to parents and their children as we strive to keep more and more of our residents safe from the detested coronavirus.
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Featured Image: Facebook (Ong Ye Kung)
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