Delay lifting of Covid-19 restrictions in Singapore until children under 12 can get vaccinated

I read with concern the plans outlined on Aug 6 by the Government’s Covid-19 task force for the gradual reopening of Singapore.

While I understand the necessity for Singapore to reopen and sympathise with the plight of those who have seen their livelihoods devastated, our desire for a return to normalcy must not compel us to put Singapore in a tight spot.

The Delta variant is almost twice as transmissible as the original Covid-19 strain.

Early research also suggests that current vaccines confer less protection against the Delta variant, though individual protection against serious illness and death remains high.

This is illustrated by the Ministry of Health’s data which shows that 1,255 fully vaccinated individuals have been infected in Singapore over the past month or so, yet very few were seriously ill. 

However, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said that vaccinated people who become infected can spread the Delta variant to others as easily as unvaccinated people.

This means that even if adults get vaccinated this will not fully protect vulnerable children under 12 who are not yet vaccinated.

Although few children become seriously ill or die from Covid-19, unfortunately the number of infections among children across the world has risen markedly due to the increased transmissibility of the Delta variant.

The US saw a record number of children hospitalised with Covid-19 on Saturday, and the coronavirus has killed over 1,200 children in Indonesia, with the majority dying in June and July due to a surge in infections.

Official statistics suggest there are more than 400,000 residents under the age of 12 in Singapore who still cannot be vaccinated.

The majority live in homes with adults who could transmit the virus to their child. Should containment measures be lifted, asymptomatic but infectious fully vaccinated adults circulating in the population could result in serious consequences for our unvaccinated children.

Both the US and UK healthcare authorities have said that paediatric survivors are also vulnerable to developing a rare but serious condition called multisystem inflammatory syndrome, in which different parts of the body such as the heart, lungs and kidneys become inflamed.

Children can also suffer from long Covid.

While most children do recover over time, some serious cases in the US and UK have been unable to fully return to school or normal life even after eight months.

According to the database of the international Covid-NMA research initiative supported by the World Health Organization, eight clinical vaccine trials that have participants under 12 are presently at Phases 2 to 4.

Collectively, more than 10,000 children across the world are taking part in trials using the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Sinopharm vaccines.

The Covid-19 task force has rightly stressed that Singapore will not open up with a big bang and any easing of restrictions will be done with public health being a top priority.

Given the ability of the Delta variant to continue spreading in vaccinated populations, I strongly urge the task force to delay any full lifting of restrictions in Singapore, at least until vaccines can be administered to children under 12.

While Singapore should not be alarmist about the danger, neither can we afford to reopen too much, too early when significant segments of our population remain vulnerable.

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