The Department of Health (DOH) said it will closely monitor the developments of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination among children below 12 years old, as other countries have already approved the inoculation of children as young as five years old against the said illness.

“Considering sa ibang bansa nagsimula na sila ng below 12 [years old]. So, hihintayin natin yung mga resulta ng pag-aaral (Considering that in other countries they have already started [the vaccination of those] below 12 [years old]. So, we will wait for the results of the study),” said DOH Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje in an interview over radio DZBB on Sunday, Oct. 31.

Cabotaje said that the vaccine dosage for those 11 years old and below is different from the those people aged 12 and above.

“Kasi kung nabalitaan niyo sa Amerika, ang pagbigay ng bakuna sa bata below 12 ay one third of the dose (If you read the news in America, the administration of a vaccine for children below 12 is only one-third of the dose),” said Cabotaje.

“Kasi yung 12 to 17 (years old) naman, yung dose nila pareho sa matanda, so wala tayong problema (For 12 to 17 years old, the vaccine dosage is the same with the adults, so we don’t have a problem),” she added.

The US Food and Drug Administration has already approved Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in children 5 to 11 years old.

Individuals age three and above in China will soon be vaccinated against COVID-19, based on the report of the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, the Health official also said that around 34,000 children aged 12 to 17 in the Philippines were already vaccinated against COVID-19.

Of this, Cabotaje said that 36 children experience adverse events following immunization (AEFI), of which, three of them were severe but were properly managed.

She also assured that the country has enough supply of vaccines for the pediatric population.

“We have enough Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for all the children that will be targeted. May 12 million tayong target na mga bata na babakunahan nationwide (We have a target of 12 million children to be vaccinated nationwide)…we will have enough vaccines to cover them,” said Cabotaje.

Source:
courtesy of MANILA BULLETIN

by Analou de Vera

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