THE Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that with regard to the vaccination of kids aged 5-11 years old, they may receive only half of the vaccine dose since they are lighter in terms of body weight.
In a radio interview, FDA Director-General Eric Domingo said kids may only need half the dose depending on their weight based on their computation since kids 5-11 years old are usually smaller in size and lighter in weight.
The Department of Health earlier said they are looking at vaccinating minors against COVID-19 in the said age group by next year.
However, before its implementation, an authorization guided by the recommendation of experts, including the Health Technology Assessment Council, will be needed..
Meanwhile, the FDA also noted that there were no adverse reactions reported so far among the 12-17 age group who were already vaccinated with their first dose.
Domingo noted only a few children experienced allergies, hyperventilation, and post-vaccination body pain but got better the next day. These include nine children who got the Pfizer jab, and one with Moderna — .
So far, only Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines were given approval to administer to children ages 12 to 17.
“So far, based on our monitoring where 400,000 were already given their first jab, we have not seen any serious adverse events that caused problems,” Domingo said.
The FDA chief also reiterated that to avail of the vaccination, there is no need for minors with no underlying conditions to present medical certificates from physicians except those with comorbidities.
Pediatric inoculation of children with comorbidities in the 12-17 age group started last October 15, and in November 3 for all minors.
There are 12.7 million children in the 12-17 age group in the country, 1.2 million of them have comorbidities based on government data. The government is eyeing to vaccinate 80 percent, or about 10 million by December of this year.