THE Department of Health (DOH) said that the inoculation of kids against COVID-19 is feasible, provided that there is enough supply of vaccines.
In a television interview Monday, DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III said “supply permitting, I, for one, wouldn’t mind that we should already start vaccinating children for as long as first, we prioritize which among the children.”
Suppose the proposal is approved, the health secretary believes that children whose classification is under those who have comorbidities should be of utmost priority, citing Philippine General Hospital’s (PGH) report about two among six young patients are with comorbidities.
While the vaccination plan of the government provides effective protection against COVID-19 and its highly contagious variants, public clamors to include kids in the priority groups have surfaced, insisting that the increase of positive cases in the country can also be felt by kids.
Due to scarcity of vaccine supply, however, jabs remain given to health workers, senior citizens, persons with comorbidities, indigent individuals, and economic frontliners.
On Sunday, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said that the national government is taking into consideration a proposal which seeks to include teens in the 12 to 17 age group for its vaccination program. The inoculation is expected to be held around last week of September or October.
Last May, the vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech has received an approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be given to adolescents in the 12-15 age cluster.
The CoronaVac vaccine made by Sinovac is also undergoing assessment by the FDA to examine whether the jabs can also be used for children aged three to 17.