TWENTY-THREE vaccination sites in the National Capital Region (NCR) are set to be opened tomorrow for Phase 2 of the pediatric COVID-19 vaccination program of the Department of Health.
Dr. Kezia Rosario of the National Vaccination Operation Center (NVOC) said 15 facilities will be added to the eight hospitals that participated in Phase 1 of the program that started last Friday.
The program aims to inoculate an estimated 144,000 minors with comorbidites in Metro Manila.
“For Phase 2, we have 23 sites, including the Phase 1 hospitals,” she said Rosario. “Each of the local government units (LGUs) in the National Capital Region have already prepared their respective vaccination sites.”
Unlike Phase 1, Rosario said, some LGUs will have vaccination sites that are not hospitals due to limited space available.
In the initial list of the additional vaccination sites were Caloocan City North Medical Center, Caloocan City Medical Center-South, Ospital ng Malabon/Oreta Sports Complex, Navotas City Hospital, Valenzuela City Emergency Hospital, Pasig City General Hospital, Marikina Sports Complex/Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center, Quezon City General Hospital, St. Luke’s Medical Center (QC), Ospital ng Maynila Medical Center, Ospital ng Makati, SM Megamall Mega Vaccination Site, Cardinal Santos Medical Center, Ospital ng Muntinlupa, Ospital ng Parañaque 1, University of Perpetual Help Dalta System, and Pasay City General Hospital.
Rosario said the vaccination sites are still mostly hospitals.
She said the requirement is that the sites should be near hospitals. “This is so that in case something happens, we can respond accordingly,” she said.
Last week, the vaccination of minors with comorbidites aged 12 to 17 years started in eight pre-selected hospitals in Metro Manila, with their own patients tapped as participants.
The eight hospitals are the National Children’s Hospital, Philippine Heart Center, Pasig City Children’s Hospital, Fe Del Mundo Medical Center, Philippine General Hospital, Makati Medical Center, St. Luke’s Medical Center, and Philippine Children’s Medical Center.
As of October 19, the DOH said 3,416 minors with comorbidities have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
The number of vaccinees who reported adverse events following immunization (AEFIs) remained at four, and are undergoing assessment by the National Adverse Events Following Immunization Committee, Rosario said.
“We want to determine if they are really related to the vaccines or not,” she also said.
Overall, she said, the pediatric inoculation program has been going smoothly.
WHY HOSPITALS?
Former health secretary now Iloilo Rep. Janet Garin asked what the vaccination is being done in hospitals where, she said, the minors will only be exposed to the virus.
“I really don’t see the logic why we have to unnecessarily expose our teenagers especially those with comorbidities in a hospital setting,” Garin told a television interview.
Just like adults, Garin said, children should be vaccinated in ordinary sites and not in hospitals which she calls “one of the main petri dishes of the (new coronavirus) transmission.”
“I believe we are the only country vaccinating our teens in hospitals, because vaccination is supposed to be outside,” she said.
The DOH has said the pediatric vaccination is undertaken in hospitals to that the children will be given immediate medical attention in case they suffer from adverse effects. Adults were initially vaccinated in hospitals when the vaccines were first rolled out in March to prioritize health workers.
“While I understand the need for precautions, common sense would dictate that the hospital setting is not the safest place to be during a pandemic. Doing vaccination in hospitals will expose our teenage children to more viruses and possibly to COVID-19,” said Garin.
Garin also said the decision to hold vaccination of minors in hospitals will add more burden to the “already exhausted, overworked, and underpaid frontline health workers.”
She pointed out that vaccinations of persons who are high-risk of acquiring COVID-19, like senior citizens and persons with comorbidities, were held in schools, covered courts and open areas.
“If the more fragile population was vaccinated outside hospitals, then why are we risking our teens to go to hospitals?” she said.
STORAGE, DISTRIBUTION
Distribution of vaccines and storage in some provinces is delaying the vaccination of more people, said vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, chief of he National Task Force against COVID-19 (NTF).
He said the country has some 39 million doses of vaccine stored in the national government’s facility, and it takes seven to nine days before the vaccines reach the provinces where they will be administered.
NTF consultant Ted Herbosa, in an interview after arrival of 2,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines donated by Brunei, said the problem in some provinces and municipalities are insufficient to lack of cold storage facility for sensitive vaccines such as those from Pfizer and Moderna.
Galvez, in his report during the Talk to the People address of President Duterte that aired from late Tuesday night to early Wednesday, said they are trying to address logistical demands at the regional, provincial and municipality level.
He also said government targets to ramp up vaccination to 1.5 million shots a day, from the current 388,000 to 500,000 jabs, to hasten the realization of herd immunity or population protection.
He said that under the latest vaccination strategy, the target is to vaccinate 50 million of the priority population nationwide before Christmas and fully vaccinate 70 percent of the targeted population in Metro Manila and 10 other highly-urbanized cities and centers of economic activities before the year ends.
Government wants to fully vaccinate 70 percent of the targeted population nationwide before the election period starts next year.
Galvez said 52.78 million doses of vaccines have been administered nationwide with 24.49 million people or 31.76 percent of the targeted population already fully vaccinated.
He reiterated that the government is planning to start administering a third dose to healthcare workers and other vulnerable sectors by November or early December.
President Duterte told Galvez to “shuffle” the vaccines being delivered nationwide and not allocate specific brands to just a single group or area.
“If these vaccines that we have been giving to the population are not really effective and right… Huwag kayong mamili kasi talagang ito namang lahat bakuna, okay ‘to (Don’t be choosy because all the vaccines are okay),” he said. — With Wendell Vigilia and Jocelyn Montemayor
