Slow pediatric vax due to parents, guardians not giving consent
THE pediatric age group of 5 to 11 years old vaccination roll-out is slow due to parents or guardians not releasing a consent, said Davao City Covid-19 Task Force Spokesperson, Dr. Michelle Schlosser.
“We will not be able to inject without the consent of their parents or guardians, that's the reason why during the school based (vaccination) we will be intensifying information education campaigns not only for the kids but also for their parents and guardian kasi ang desisyon making will rely on them,” Schlosser said in an interview with Davao City Disaster Radio on May 25, 2022.
Ages 18 years old and below are not allowed to decide on their own with regards to vaccination.
Schlosser said that as of May 25, 2022, only 6 percent or only 14,000 of the pediatric age group have been vaccinated since the roll-out two months ago from the expected 200,000 participants.
“There is an effect sa gipagawas sa National Vaccination team sa DOH (Department of Health), nga dili necessary or dili required ang vaccination sa mag-face to face (classes), probably it gave a leniency effect nga ‘okay ra man diay dili magpakuna, even if we are opening our classes na face to face,’” Schlosser said.
“Kung ang parents nato and guardians wala’y knowledge or naay apprehensions and fear towards the vaccine that will hamper us sa pag-implement a program,” she added.
According to Schlosser, since the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) released an announcement that vaccination is not necessary or required for the learners that will attend a face-to-face classes, DOH and the Local Government Unit (LGU) could only intensify education campaigns and school based vaccination.
“In fact we are currently working with Department of Education naghulat nalang ta og operational guidelines as to unsaon nato pag roll out sa school based vaccination para ma-cover nato tong wala pa nabakunahan nga 5 to 11 years old and other pediatric age group,” Schlosser said.
Schlosser said school-based vaccination is not new due to routine vaccines implemented such as measles and polio.