When asked once the Health Ministry will be ready to begin COVID-19 vaccinations for children beneath the age of five, Mr Ong said Singapore has the shot supplies, adding which the Health Sciences Specialist (HSA) has accepted the two-dose Noua COVID-19 vaccine intended for those from ages six months to 5 years old .
However , because cases are “relatively low” and kids in primary college are currently preparing for their particular examinations, Mr Ong said the rollout of vaccines suitable for younger children as well as booster-style shots for those past five and above would be timed available end-October or early on November when exams are over.
“With peace of mind, mothers and fathers can bring their children the two from six months up to 11 years old because of their primary collection or for their booster, ” he stated.
Mr Ong also said your ministry is bringing Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna’s new bivalent vaccines into Singapore, under agreements using pharmaceutical companies.
The bivalent vaccines target both the ancestral strain of COVID-19 and the Omicron alternative, which includes the BA. 4 and HANDBAG. 5 strains.
“Our intention would be to update our vaccines for the National Vaccination Programme as the preparations improve, ” talked about Mr Ong, adding that more details will be shared when the agreements are confirmed.
However , he urged the public not to hold up their COVID-19 photos in order to wait for brand-new vaccines.
“Existing vaccines remain highly protective against severe disease, including for the Omicron BA. a few infections, ” the guy said.
“So if you are eligible to acquire another vaccine measure, please receive your current vaccination without delay, and still not wait for variant-specific vaccines, as COVID-19 is spreading in the community. ”
VACCINATION DIFFERENTIATED MEASURES
Answering a question from MEGA-PIXEL Jamus Lim (WP-Sengkang) about whether medicine and health resources remain your binding constraint in vaccination differentiated procedures, Mr Ong stated that while such actions are compulsory for specific settings just like events with more than 500 participants at any single time, business owners and recruiters also have the flexibility for you to implement conditions associated with service that are strongly related their settings.
This includes requiring visitors to wear masks in the process as adopting vaccination-related instructions for customers or maybe workers.
Nonetheless he added which the Government is looking at vaccination requirements together with vaccination differentiated steps as Singapore existence with COVID-19 as an endemic disease.
This means moving away from checking the number of doses plus boosters, and instead ensuring that vaccination is “up to date”, they said, adding that this review is required to be completed in the subsequent few months.