A TOTAL of 123 sites nationwide will conduct vaccinations today on children and adolescents with comorbidities as part of the third phase of the pediatric vaccination against COVID-19, the Department of Health said yesterday
The pediatric vaccination currently covers children, aged 12 to 17 years, who have co-morbidities and residing in Metro Manila.
For children aged 12 to 17 years, regardless of health status, nationwide vaccination will start on November 3.
Cabotaje said 123 vaccination sites have been tapped to participate in Phase 3 of the pilot of the program rollout. The program was launched on October 15 with eight participating medical facilities in the National Capital Region or Metro Manila, then expanded to 39 hospital-based and non-hospital-based vaccination sites in all local government units (LGUs) in Metro Manila.
Cabotaje said local government units nationwide were tasked to identify their vaccination sites, whether “hospital-based or off-site,” depending on their capacity to conduct the activity.
Based on latest data from the DOH, 23,727 minors with comorbidities have been vaccinated, with 25 vaccinees showing adverse events following immunization (AEFIs), including three serious cases.
“The serious case include those that experienced severe allergic reaction, which required injection of epinephrine and needed oxygenation,” said Cabotaje.
Next week’s nationwide vaccination is open to all minors aged 12 to 17 years old.
“For the whole country, there are 12.7 million 12 to 17-year-old individuals. By December, our target is to have at least 80 percent of them vaccinated with two doses,” she.
Minors with no comorbidities to be vaccinated starting November 3 will no longer be required to present medical clearance from their physicians.
“We presume that they are healthy and have no history of any illness,” she said.
Cabotaje said the DOH is leaving other operational guidelines to the discretion of the LGUs, like if they will allow walk-ins, have similar venues for pediatric and adult vaccinees, and if there will be separate lanes for the minors and the adult population.
On the vaccination of adults, DOH data showed some 26.5 million fully vaccinated Filipinos and about 31 million who have received the first dose, as of October 27.
Broken down into priority groups, 1.5 million healthcare workers (A1) have been fully vaccinated, 4.6 million senior citizens (A2), 7.2 million people with comorbidities (A3), 8.8 million frontline workers (A4), and 2.8 million poor population (A5).
As to the rest of the population (B and C), the DOH said there are already 323,000 fully jabbed individuals.
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) and group of vaccine experts have recommended the use of the same brand of vaccine for the third dose or booster shots, particularly for those who received Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines.
The recommendation has to be approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
“The recommendations of NITAG and an experts panel is what we call homologous. So whatever the brand of the first two primaries was administered, the same brand will be administered for the third dose or the booster,” he said in Filipino.
The government is targeting to start administering the third dose or booster shots on November 15 for healthcare workers and senior citizens.
Galvez also said the country has prioritized the use of Pfizer brands for minors amid the delay in the delivery of some Moderna vaccines.
He reminded LGUs that only Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are allowed to be used for those aged between 12 to 17. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
