THE National Government will roll out the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccination of children aged five to 11 on Feb. 4, 2022.
National Task Force (NTF) chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. said the Department of Health (DOH) will issue guidelines on the vaccination of this age group within the week.
He said the vaccine doses for children as young as five will arrive by next week.
“We can assure our parents, Mr. President, that the vaccines are very safe since the formulation is much lower and suited for children. That’s why we can see color coding in the vials — orange and purple. Orange is intended for those ages five to 11 years old,” Galvez said in Tagalog in his presentation during President Rodrigo Duterte’s Talk to the People Address on Monday evening, Jan. 24.
Galvez said they expect the roll-out of vaccination for this age group to be easier, as local government units already have experience in the vaccination of adolescents or those aged 12 to 17, which started in November 2021.
He said hospital and non-hospital vaccination sites will be opened.
As of Jan. 24, a total of 123,365,808 doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in the country.
A total of 57,268,257 individuals have received full inoculation, 59,799,215 received the first dose and over six million persons got their booster doses.
Getting ready
In Cebu City, health authorities are now preparing for the upcoming vaccination of children five to 11 years old.
Jeffrey Ibones, head of the Cebu City Health Department, said they are awaiting complete guidelines from the DOH so they can enter names in their data base after the children are registered for the vaccination.
Ibones assured that it will not be difficult for them as they have already vaccinated adolescents.
He believes the same preparation will be required, such as the venues being close to hospitals, the presence of pediatricians during vaccination, and the parents accompanying the minors. (PAC, SunStar Philippines)