(REUTERS)
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine General Hospital (PGH) on Friday kicked off the ceremonial COVID-19 vaccination of minors aged 12 to 17.
“Ngayong araw po na ito, to be exact, 12 patients po ang ceremonial vaccinees today,” PGH spokesperson Jonas del Rosario said over in a Teleradyo interview.
(Today, to be exact, 12 patients will receive the vaccines during our ceremonial vaccination.)
“Next week po, 60 patients muna po per day. Kaya meron kaming 300 pre registered vaccinees, then after that depende na po kung ano yung magiging assessment and evaluation, palalawigin natin yung vaccination,” he added.
(Next week, we would have 60 patients per day, that’s why we have 300 pre-registered vaccinees, then after that it would depend on our assessment and evaluation before we expand the vaccination drive.)
The COVID-19 vaccination of minors is also being carried out in several other hospitals in Metro Manila.
He said that all of the eligible vaccinees are patients of PGH with underlying conditions.
Del Rosario also reminded parents that there is no walk-in vaccination.
“Wala pong walk in sa ngayon, ayaw natin silang pumila, ayaw natin silang ma-expose na di kinakailangan sa ospital,” he said.
(We don’t accept walk-ins for now because we don’t want them to line up and be exposed unnecessarily.)
To date, only US-made COVID-19 vaccines of Pfizer and Moderna have been approved for minors by the country’s Food and Drug Administration.