(FILE Photo) A minor is getting her shot against COVID-19 during the pediatric vaccination organized by the Department of Health and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority at a mall inside the Subic Bay Freeport. (Photo courtesy of SBMA).
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City is looking into the possibility of opening more vaccination sites when the vaccination opens for 5- to 11-year-old children.
Mayor Michael Rama said he had instructed City Administrator Suzanne Ardosa to plan out the vaccination for the younger minors so that when the Department of Health (DOH) launches in Cebu, the city would be ready.
“We have been discussing it. Anyway, City Administrator is being always been with the group from the time we organized the COVID Vaccination Storm Roll-out Program. We have our foundation of really discussing it for purposes that it (vaccination) commences, all systems go,” said the mayor.
The mayor has also instructed the City Health Department (CHD) to prepare all the necessary resources, venues, and coordination with the Philippine Pediatric Society in Cebu to get more manpower, volunteers, and pediatricians to man the sites.
Vaccinations sites for minors can be tricky as pediatricians must be present to oversee the vaccination of the minors, provide the necessary consultations, and respond to medical emergencies if any.
Doctor Jeffrey Ibones, the head of the CHD, said they had now began the talks for the vaccination of younger minors especially on the sites that would be allowed to do so.
“Ang mahitabo nato, ang National Capital Region (NCR) magpilot sila una, next ang regional so we are waiting sa mando sa DOH. Pero possibly by February makasugod na gyod ta sa 5 to 11 (years old). Tanawon nato kung unsay requirements such as consent forms,” said Ibones.
(What happened with us is that the National Capital Region (NCR) did the pilot, they are the first, next is the regional, so we are waiting for the DOH order. But possibly by February we can start the 5 to 11 (years old). We’ll see if what the requirements are such as consent forms.)
He said that most likely the process for the vaccination would be the same as that of 12 to 17 year old children with the parents of legal authorized guardians needed to give consent to the vaccination.
What they are now deliberating is the possibility of using the same sites for the two age groups since the sites being used for the vaccination of older minors are near hospitals and already have pediatricians available.
Still, they await the final requirements of DOH before finalizing the venues for the vaccinations.
For the minor vaccination progress, Ibones said that 41,434 minors aged 12 to 17 had been vaccinated for the first dose while 16,417 were now fully vaccinated as of January 27, 2022.
There are 76,934 minors of the same age group that have been registered for vaccination as well.
Meanwhile, due to the use of Pfizer for second dose vaccines for minors, Ibones announced that booster shots for adults were limited to Sinovac or AstraZeneca.
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