A healthcare worker administers a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine shot during a recent pediatric vaccination in Olongapo City. (Photo courtesy of Olongapo City Information Center)
MANILA, Philippines — COVID-19 vaccines for children aged five to 11 will be made available in schools as more than half of public schools in the country have reopened for face-to-face learning.
During President Rodrigo Duterte’s taped Talk to the People aired Tuesday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that COVID-19 vaccines may be administered to the pediatric population through the schools’ infirmary.
“’Yun po gagawin natin, sir, pagka um-attend sila — parang ‘yung dati nung mga bata tayo — i-injection-an na tayo ng kanilang mga infirmary ng mga iba’t ibang bakuna like measles, ‘yung sa polio,” he told the president.
(What we will do is when they attend classes — like when we were kids — they will be injected in their infirmary with different vaccines like for measles, polio.)
“So, gagawin din natin ‘to (we will also do this) for COVID for the basic learners from five to 11 years of age, Mr. President,” added Duque.
READ: Duterte OKs expansion of limited in-person classes in areas under Alert Level 1, 2
Meanwhile, presidential adviser on COVID-19 response Vince Dizon said that vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez has issued an instruction for the availability of vaccines in schools.
Dizon noted that the government has around 10 million COVID-19 vaccine doses for the pediatric population.
“We have the supply. We have about 15 million doses for the vaccines for pediatrics, for five to 11, already in the country,” he told the president in the same taped address. “We have about remaining 10 million doses in stock. So, we have the vaccines po and these can be easily deployed to all our schools for all our children.”
Galvez, meanwhile, reported that around 67.9 million individuals in the country are fully immunized against COVID-19 as of May 2.
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