KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 – Only six cases of mild side effects have been reported out of more than 20,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses given to children aged five to 11 years in Singapore.
Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority (HSA) said in a report on Covid-19 vaccine doses administered from December 30, 2020 to December 31, 2021 that it received no reports on serious adverse events following immunisation among under-12 children thus far, since coronavirus jabs were rolled out to kids last December 27.
The six non-serious reports – which comprised just 0.03 per cent of 20,327 administered Covid-19 vaccine doses among children aged five to 11 – included three reports of allergic reactions and one report each of dizziness, fever, and fast breathing.
The three reports of allergic reactions from Covid-19 vaccination in under-12 children were hives and swelling of the eyelids, face, and lips.
Singapore uses a lower dosage of Pfizer-BioNTech’s mRNA vaccine for paediatric Covid-19 inoculation at 10 microgrammes (mcg), compared to 30mcg for individuals aged 12 years and above. The vaccine is given to children aged five to 11 as a two-dose primary series, three weeks apart.
Malaysia has similarly approved 10mcg dosage of Pfizer’s shot for children aged five to 11. Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin recently said the paediatric Covid-19 vaccination programme would be rolled out soon.
