THE City Government of Bacolod will officially launch the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccination program for minors with comorbidities at the Riverside Medical Center on Saturday, October 29.

Executive Director Em Ang of Emergency Operation Center-Task Force (EOC-TF), said yesterday, October 25, that there will be a region-wide launching to be led by the Department of Health (DOH).

In Bacolod City alone, about 100 minors under the Pediatric A3 priority group, or persons aged 12 to 17 years-old with comorbidities, are expected to be inoculated during the launching.

After the launching, Ang said, the next regular schedule of the vaccination for minors will be on November 5.

Under the DOH guidelines, the Pediatric A3 vaccination will focus on minors whose comorbidities include human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), cancer, with Down syndrome and tuberculosis, among others.

The DOH guidelines also mandated that the vaccination for minors should be held in the hospitals and not in the city’s vaccination centers.

Ang said they will hold another meeting to identify other hospitals to be utilized as vaccination sites for minors.

She said they don’t want to expose the pediatric patients and their guardians, adding that they will administer Pfizer vaccines.

As of October 25, they already registered a total of 4,783 minors aged 12 to 17 and 573 of them have comorbidities.

Parents of minors under the Pediatric A3 group may register their children through this link: https://tinyurl.com/bcdceirminors.

During the vaccination, Ang said the minors are also required to present identification cards and proof of filiation of their guardians or birth certificate since they need to sign a waiver.*