Amidst the start of vaccination bookings for students aged 12 and up, a 16-year-old boy reportedly wrongly received a dose of the Moderna Covid vaccine.
The mistake took place on Thursday (3 June) at the Kolam Ayer Community Club vaccination centre. The staff only found out the boy was younger than 18 years old after he had already gotten the jab.
Thankfully, experts believe that the boy will expectedly not suffer any safety issues.
16-Year-Old Given Moderna Vaccine By Mistake
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In a joint statement on Friday (4 June), the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Ministry of Education (MOE) says the boy was placed under a long observation period of 50 minutes. They add that the boy “remains generally well.”
According to investigations, the teenager’s date of birth was wrongly entered during the vaccination booking for an appointment after receiving the sign-up link. Due to this, his age was incorrectly registered as above 18 years old.
So despite the Moderna vaccine not having been authorised for those under 18 in Singapore, a Moderna vaccine centre was selected for the teen.
MOH And MOE Apologises For The Mistake
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MOH and MOE say the vaccination centre staff should have checked the boy’s age during registration. They apologised for the inconvenience and anxiety caused by the incident. They have even reached out to the boy’s parents to explain what happened.
They write in their statement, “The safety of those receiving the vaccination is of utmost priority. The Ministry of Health (MOH) and Ministry of Education (MOE) take a serious view of this incident.”
After the incident, MOH has carried out a thorough review of their internal processes at vaccination sites to prevent it from happening again.
“This includes strengthening our online registration process to ensure individuals make appointments at suitable vaccination centres based on their eligibility, as well as putting in place more stringent protocols at our vaccination sites to verify eligibility,” says MOH.
Both ministries are also in close contact with the boy’s family and will continue to closely monitor the teen’s health.
So Can Children Get The Covid Vaccine In Singapore?
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With an age-limit restriction, parents may be wonder: Can children get the Covid vaccine? The answer is ‘yes.’ But it comes with the caveat – not all kids are allowed to receive the vaccine as of yet.
To avoid any confusion and prevent similar situations as this, here’s what you should know about the vaccine for children in Singapore:
- Currently only children aged 12 and above can get the vaccine.
Due to limited research on the effects of the vaccine on younger kids, only children aged 12 years old and above can book an appointment for vaccination in Singapore.
- Those under 18 are unauthorised to receive the Moderna vaccine.
While children aged 12 years old and up can get the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, only those 18 years old and above can receive jabs of the Moderna vaccine.
- Further research is still needed to determine the ideal dose of the vaccine for younger children.
Pharma companies have plans to begin trials to test smaller doses of the Covid-19 vaccine on younger kids. But no specific timeline has been announced. Although, it’s expected that children will be able to get their first dose of the vaccine either by the end of 2021 or early 2022.
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