Vials with Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine labels are seen in this illustration picture taken March 19, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Starting Monday, October 11, 2021, adolescents aged 12 to 17 years old here can register to receive free COVID-19 vaccines from the national government.
The Cebu City Government on Monday announced that its online registration for COVID-19 vaccines is open for young adults.
But they clarified that actual inoculation may still not start soon as they are still waiting for guidelines from the national government on how to vaccinate the younger demographics.
“Wa pa tay guidelines nadawat gikan sa DOH (Department of Health) so di pa ta kabalo kanus-a magsugod,” said Dr. Jeffrey Ibones, City Health Officer.
Should the city government begin vaccinating young adults, Ibones said they will be prioritizing those with co-morbidities.
Minors will also have to be accompanied by their parents or any authorized guardians.
Those with co-morbidities will be asked to present medical certificates as proof.
“Sa akong nabaw-an, unahon ang naay co-morbidities. But we will know everything later (when the guidelines will be released). We are still waiting for guidelines from the DOH and we advise our parents to please wait for the text from CebuCityVax for your child’s schedule,” he explained.
Last September, the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) gave the go-signal for US vaccine manufacturer Moderna to inoculate teens age 12 to 17 years old.
Moderna is the second COVID-19 vaccine brand the Philippine government has granted with Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to inoculate young adults.
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, also from U.S., was earlier granted a EUA to vaccinate children 12 to 15 years old. For their part, Acting Mayor Michael Rama and Councilor Joel Garganera, who heads the city’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC), told parents to encourage their children to get vaccinated.
“The vaccination is the game-changer. It’s one of the reasons why we were able to put our cases down,” said Garganera.
“We have vaccinated almost 45 percent of our target population, and who have been fully vaccinated. If mga bata mabakunahan na dayun, dako na gyud siya ug impact,” he added.
Cebu City aims to inoculate 738,453 individuals.
Based on the latest report from the city government, 319,803 have already completed their inoculation schedule or are considered ‘fully vaccinated’.
The city is one of the priority areas for the national government’s COVID-19 vaccination drive.
/bmjo
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Click here to register for the COVID-19 vaccination drive.