Metro Cebu set to vaccinate 5-to 11-year-old kids on Feb. 14; 22K doses readied
Pfizer – BioNTech Vaccine | FILE PHOTO
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Metro Cebu is now gearing up for the start of the COVID-19 vaccination drive among children age 5 to 11 years old.
At least 22,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech have been distributed to various local governments, a report from the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) showed.
Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, DOH-7 chief pathologist and spokesperson of the Visayas Vaccination Operations Center (VVOC), confirmed that some local government units (LGUs) would begin administering COVID-19 vaccines to kids 5 to 11 years old on Monday, February 14.
“Yes, some will start tomorrow,” Loreche told reporters in a message.
Based on DOH-7’s initial data as of February 13, they projected close to 175,000 children from at least nine localities in Metro Cebu may receive free COVID-19 vaccines from the national government.
Out of the 22,000 doses of vaccines readied for the second phase of the pediatric vaccination, 6,000 of these have been allocated to Cebu City.
The province’s capital has so far identified 6,863 children who are qualified to get the jab. The city government is expected to start the actual rollout this February 16.
Its neighboring cities – Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu – will each get 3,000 doses of the vaccines.
In the south, Talisay City and Naga City have been allocated 2,800 and 1,500 doses respectively.
The towns of Minglanilla, Consolacion, Cordova, and Liloan will also receive at least 1,000 doses for their pediatric population.
Last February 8, the Philippines began the second phase of its pediatric vaccination.
So far, only US-based pharmaceutical firm Pfizer has been granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the country’s Food and Drugs Administration to use their mRNA vaccines for kids age 5 to 11 years old.
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