Vaccine registration for minors starts in San Juan City

MANILA, Philippines —  San Juan City opened on Monday its registration for the vaccination of minors aged 5 to 11 years old, as the number of COVID-19 cases rose after the holidays.

San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora said from just five cases on Dec. 14, the city logged 197 active cases of COVID-19 on Monday.

Of this number, 98 percent of the patients had mild to asymptomatic cases while the remaining 2 percent were moderate to severe.

“In anticipation of the actual vaccination for the 5 to 11 years old category, hopefully this January, we have already opened the online vaccine registration to our residents and even nonresidents,” he said, adding that this was in preparation for the release of guidelines on the rollout.

A day after opening the registration for the age group, the local government has recorded around 1,000 registrations.

Zamora told reporters that during their meeting with the Metro Manila Council on Sunday, local chief executives were tasked to come up with ordinances for an “enhanced vaccine mandate.”

This would primarily restrict the movement of unvaccinated individuals, who will no longer be allowed to enter malls, restaurants and use public transportation.

“I am in favor of allowing those who are unvaccinated to procure only essential goods and services and for emergency medical and dental services,” the mayor said.

Those who are working would be required to take swab or antigen tests to report to their offices, he said, noting that the restrictions would not be based on the age anymore but on their vaccination status.

In the same meeting, the metro mayors agreed to suspend pilot in-person classes in the basic education sector.

The Department of Education (DepEd) on Sunday night confirmed that the pilot in-person classes would be “deferred” in compliance with the guidelines of the Inter-Agency Task Force’s memorandum, which reverted Metro Manila to alert level 3.

“It must be noted that the pilot [in-person] classes ended last December and the only ones affected will be those included in the expansion phase,” DepEd said.