Singapore will start vaccinating schoolchildren against the coronavirus soon, the Prime Minister said on Monday, after officials warned that new strains were affecting youngsters more.
The city-state, with a population of 5.7 million, recently tightened curbs following a slight uptick in cases, after months of reporting barely any local cases. This included closing schools amid signs that new variants, such as the one first detected in India, were affecting children in greater numbers.
In a televised speech, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that school students aged 12 and over will be the next group to be inoculated. Health regulators approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds this month. It was previously only allowed for those aged 16 and above.
“In this latest outbreak, we have seen more cases of children getting infected, in schools and tuition centres,” Mr. Lee said. “The children were not seriously ill, but parents are naturally worried. Therefore, we will take advantage of the June holidays to vaccinate students.”
The city’s more than 4,00,000 students can start booking vaccinations from Tuesday, with the first slots available on Thursday, officials said. After schoolchildren, officials will inoculate adults 39 years and younger.
