VACCINE and health experts in the country are not in favor of including minors aged 12 to 17 years in the priority list of national COVID-19 vaccination program, for now, because of limited supply of vaccines and lack of information on the safety and efficacy of the vaccines on minors.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) executive director Eric Domingo said while many children have recently been hospitalized for COVID-19, older people remain more vulnerable and contract severe cases leading to hospitalization, and in some cases death.
“We still need to prioritize older people because the possibility that they will have a severe disease and die from COVID-19 is more than 13 times compared to younger people,” Domingo said in mixed Filipino and English on Monday night during his report to President Duterte.
Jaime Montoya, executive director of the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development, said an “all experts group” concluded during a meeting on Monday night that the vaccination priority list should be maintained despite the threat of the Delta variant and the number of minors who are hospitalized due to of COVID-19.
Montoya said the consensus reached and recommendation made by the experts is not to include the minors in the priority list at this time “since we still lack sufficient efficacy and safety data in this age group for some of the available vaccines and since a lot of the priority groups remain to be vaccinated.”
In an interview on CNN on Monday night, he said most minors who contracted COVID-19 are usually mild and asymptomatic cases and quick to recover.
He added that not all the targeted priority sectors have been completely vaccinated such as the health workers (A1 in the priority list), elders (A2) and persons with comorbidities (A3).
He said including the minors aged 12 to 17 years in the list would mean reducing the vaccine allotment to the current priority sectors.
Montoya said the final decision would still be up to the Department of Health.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, in a report to the President on Monday night, said further studies should be done to ensure that the vaccines are effective and safe for children, especially those who are immunocompromised.
The President inquired with the FDA about the possible vaccination of minors and if the Delta variant is equally dangerous for adults and minors.
National Task Force against COVID-19 chief and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said on Sunday the government is eyeing the vaccination of 12-17-year-olds by the end of September or in early October when vaccine supply becomes steadier. Galvez said the government is already negotiating 26 million doses of vaccines for minors.
Presidential adviser for entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion, in an interview with ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo said the private sector is interested in importing vaccines from Pfizer BioNTech that are suitable for minors aged 12 to 17. — With Gerard Naval