Permanent Secretary for Health Dr James Fong says they will be vaccinating children between 15 to 17 years with the Moderna vaccine and this exercise is expected to start from Monday.
Dr Fong says they will not be making the vaccine mandatory for children though it is the best choice any young person can make for their health and the health of others.
While making the announcement, Dr Fong says they will be vaccinating children between 12 to 14 years with the Pfizer vaccine and more announcements will be done soon.
Dr Fong is encouraging parents and guardians to discuss with their children about the vaccine, encourage them that the vaccine is best for them and help them to understand why they are being vaccinated.
He says the vaccination for children between 15 to 17 years will be rolled out through school clusters and details will be announced this weekend.
Dr Fong further says parents and guardians will be asked to sign a consent form and they can register their children online through the vaccine portal from Saturday.
Dr Fong reiterates that the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are safe for children and no short cuts have been taken in granting the approvals for these vaccines to be used to vaccinate children.
He adds that Moderna provides 95%t efficacy while Pfizer provides 92%.
Dr Fong further says like any other vaccine, there is a small chance children who are partially or fully vaccinated can still get COVID.
However he says there is an exceeding rare probability that they will get severe COVID and less likely instance they may die.
Dr Fong says all adults working in schools must be vaccinated and any adult that comes into the school compound must be vaccinated.
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