THE Mandaue City Vaccination Operations Center has registered 18,282 children aged 12 to 17 who are eligible to receive a vaccine against coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
An additional 9,883 children aged zero to 11 were also listed in anticipation of the approval of a vaccine for this age group, Mandaue VOC operations head Dr. Ligaya Dargantes said Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021.
The total registered minors, 28,165, constitute about a third, or 35 percent, of the estimated 80,000 minors in the city, Dargantes said.
Vaccination of minors will begin in selected hospitals in Metro Manila on Friday, Oct. 15, but only those with comorbidities will be inoculated.
So far, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the Philippines has approved the emergency use of the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines for the 12 to 17 age group.
Dargantes said they decided to also list down those zero to 11 years old during their house-to-house registration campaign so they don’t have to do another registration campaign when a vaccine for this age group is approved.
She said registration of minors will continue through the house-to-house campaign or online. The link to the registration portal may be found on the official Facebook page of the Mandaue VOC.
The Vaccine Cluster of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has yet to approve the vaccination of minors nationwide.
Dargantes said they have yet to receive an advisory.
On Friday, the pilot vaccination of minors will be held at the National Children’s Hospital, Philippine Heart Center, Fe Del Mundo Medical Center, Philippine Children’s Medical Center in Quezon City, Pasig City Children’s Hospital, Philippine General Hospital, Makati Medical Center and St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig. (KFD)