38 NCR pilot sites ready for 5-11-year-olds
BY JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR and GERARD NAVAL
AFTER a slight delay, government will start vaccinating children aged 5 to 11 years old in 38 pilot sites in Metro Manila today.
Carlito Galvez, chief of the National Task Force against COVID-19, assured parents that vaccines against COVID-19 that will be given to their children are safe and have been carefully studied by experts worldwide.
Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje urged parents to have their children vaccinated. She also said the pediatric vaccines were deployed over the weekend to the vaccination sites.
“The Pfizer vaccines that will be administered are age-appropriate, and has been issued an emergency use authorization. This means that the Food and Drug Administration guarantees that that it is safe and effective,” she said Cabotaje.
The program was originally set to start last Friday but the arrival of the pediatric vaccines was delayed. The first tranche of 780,000 doses of reformulated Pfizer vaccines arrived late Friday.
The pilot vaccination sites are AMC Gym in Pateros; Marikina Sports Complex in Marikina City; SMX Convention Center (SM Aura) and Lakeshore in Taguig City; SM North EDSA Skydome and QC Memorial Circle in Quezon City; Ospital ng Maynila Medical Center and Manila Zoo in the City of Manila; SM Makati and Nemesio I Yabut Elementary School in Makati City; Medical Center Muntinlupa and Ospital ng Muntinlupa in Muntinlupa City; SM Sucat and Ayala Mall by the Bay in Parañaque City; T. Paez Elementary School and MOA Activity Center in Pasay City; Philippine Heart Center, Philippine Children’s Medical Center, and National Children’s Hospital, in Quezon City;
Caloocan Sports Complex, Caloocan City North Medical Center, Bagong Silang Elementary School, Caloocan City South Medical Center, and SM Grand Central in Caloocan City; Oreta Sports Complex and Robinsons Town Hall in Malabon City; Navotas City Hospital and Tumana Health Center in Navotas City; VCEH Astrodome and Pasolo Health Center in Valenzuela City; Buting Elementary School and Manggahan Elementary School in Pasig City; Podium Hall and Addition Hills Integrated School in Mandaluyong City; Fil Oil Gym in San Juan City; and Robinsons Mall, The Tenth Villar Sipag, and SM Center Las Piñas in Las Piñas City.
The pilot implementation will be expanded to the Central Luzon and Calabarzon regions later in the week. It will be implemented in the rest of the county tentatively by next week.
‘MIS-C,’ LONG COVID
The Philippine Pediatric Society (PPS) and the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society of the Philippines (PIDSP) warned parents of risks their children face if they get infected with COVID-19, like “multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and “long COVID.”
“Though majority of children infected with COVID-19 present with asymptomatic or mild disease, MISC-C and long-COVID conditions can and typically occur after asymptomatic or mild infection,” they said in a joint statement.
“Other post-COVID conditions have also been seen in this (5-11) age group, including ‘long-COVID,’” they also said.
“We reiterate that vaccination is the best way to protect children from COVID-19 and its complications. COVID-19 is now vaccine preventable,” they added.
The groups assured parents the have studied the vaccines which they said have also undergone rigorous and independent review processes by experts like the Vaccine Expert Panel and the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC).
Galvez will lead the vaccination ceremonies at the National Children’s Hospital in the morning, and at the SM North EDSA with presidential adviser on COVID response Vince Dizon in the afternoon.
The government bought 15 million doses of the reformulated Pfizer vaccines, of which 7.5 million will arrive in the first quarter and another 7.5 million in the second quarter. The government is buying another 15 million for the booster shots.
Galvez said some 160,000 children in the five-to-11-years group from Metro Manila have registered for the pilot vaccination as of February 4.
Cabotaje said at least 170,000 children from Metro Manila and more than 500,000 have registered in other parts of the country.
“They are very eager to participate in this vaccination program because we all know that we are not safe until everyone is safe, and we saw that the people are suffering also,” Galvez said.
NTF medical adviser Ted Herbosa, in an interview with radio DZRH, reiterated the vaccines for the children are safe and effective.
The five-to-11-year-olds will receive a smaller dosage of the vaccines compared to the adolescents (12 to 18 years), and adults.
The adolescents, who were first vaccinated in November 2021, received half the dosage given to adults.
The vaccination is not mandatory for children but parents are encouraged to have their children vaccinated to increase their protection against COVID-19 and in preparation for the return of the full face to face or in person classes.
Cabotaje said to date, 77 percent or 8.8 million of the targeted 12 million adolescents have received their first dose while 65.6 percent are already fully vaccinated.
As of February 4, about 128.48 million doses of vaccines have been administered nationwide, with around 60.7 million as first dose. Some 8 million individuals have received booster shots.
The country has so far received 217.778 million doses of vaccines since February of last year. The national vaccination program started on March1 last year.
