The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is prepared in a vaccination clinic at the Palais des Congres, as efforts continue to help slow the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Montreal, Quebec, Canada March 15, 2021. (REUTERS/Andrej Ivanov)
MANILA, Philippines — More than 168,000 children in the 5- to 11-year-old age group have been registered for COVID-19 vaccination, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Saturday.
According to Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje, 168,355 children so far have been registered with the local governments in preparation for the vaccination drive for minors.
“This does not mean our vaccination will only concentrate on them. We will expand it while doses are being delivered to the country,” she said at the Laging Handa briefing.
Cabotaje said the government’s overall target is 15.5 million minors.
Vaccination for the aforementioned age group is scheduled to begin on Feb. 4 in 32 selected sites in Metro Manila, including Philippine Children’s Medical Center, National Children’s Hospital, and Philippine Heart Center.
The other sites include schools, parks, and the Manila Zoo, Cabotaje said.
All minors are now considered for immediate vaccination, in contrast to the government’s earlier decision to give priority to children with comorbidities and other conditions.
This is to fast-track the inoculation drive, she said.
Assent
Children who are 7 years old and above should provide their written or verbal assent to be vaccinated.
Although the DOH has not required registration, this was still the recommended procedure for parents so the inoculation process will be more orderly, Cabotaje said.
Parents or guardians of all children to be vaccinated should bring proof of relationship or filiation and a valid ID.
Meanwhile, House Deputy Speaker and Biñan City Rep. Marlyn Alonte called for “clear medical guidance on how the unborn, infants and toddlers younger than 5 years old can be protected.”
“How pregnant mothers can protect the child in their wombs must be made perfectly clear so that vaccine hesitancy can be addressed,” she said in a statement.
“Sanitation surveillance must be among the local health priorities because dreaded communicable diseases could creep back into our lives while we are focused on COVID-19,” she added.
Virus case update
The DOH on Saturday said 17,382 new infections were added to the country’s COVID-19 caseload, which now stood at 3,528,796.
Most of the new infections were reported in Metro Manila (1,520), Calabarzon (1,426), and the Davao Region (1,331).
There were 213,587 active cases in the latest bulletin, of which 199,893 were mild; 8,736, asymptomatic; 3,114, moderate, 1,526, severe; and 318, critical.
The department recorded 35,382 new recoveries, which brought total survivors to 3,261,338, while there were 70 new fatalities, which raised the pandemic death toll to 53,871.
The positivity rate was at 33.3 percent based on 56,447 tests conducted on Thursday.
This was the lowest positivity rate since the fresh surge in COVID-19 cases in January but still way above the benchmark set by the World Health Organization of below 5 percent to indicate coronavirus transmission is under control.
Three of the department’s laboratories failed to submit their data to the COVID-19 Document Repository System.
READ: Manila Zoo to be used as venue for vaccination of kids aged 5 to 11