CEBU CITY – Health authorities in Central Visayas told local governments to prepare for the Covid-19 vaccination of children ages 12 to 17 years old, especially those with comorbidities, as mass vaccination continues against the deadly respiratory disease.
Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, chief pathologist of the
Department of Health, said the start of inoculation will depend on two factors
- the timely cascading of the guidelines from the national government and the
availability of vaccine supply for the age group.
“It really depends on supply availability and the
guidelines that the experts’ panel and technical working group will come up
with. However, the national government through (Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr.)
has assured us that they are including these age groups in the expanded
planning for making vaccines available to our pediatric population,” Loreche
told the Philippine News Agency.
She said the guidelines will determine under which
category the pediatric population will be inoculated, but pointed out that
minors who are 12 years old and above who have comorbidities could receive
their vaccine under the A3 category.
The Philippine Pediatric Society also said that recent media reports of children affected with severe Covid-19 has caused much concern in the country and the issue of vaccinating the pediatric age group has again come up.
The
Department of Health has previously said that the increase in Covid-19 cases is
being experienced in all age groups and not just in children. Moreover, the
recent increase in overall cases may be driven in part by the Delta variant,
which is known to be more contagious. (John Rey Saavedra)
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