Children 5 to 11 years old are getting vaccinated in Cebu City in this photo in one of the vaccination sites in the city on Thursday, February 17. | CDN Digital file photo (Morexette Erram)
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The children in Cebu City are getting vaccinated against COVID-19.
The Cebu City Health Department (CHD) reported that at least 1,877 minors, whose ages are from 5 to 11 years old, got vaccinated from February 16 to 18, 2022.
The city set up two separate sites for the age group at the Cebu City Sports Complex (CCSC) and Ayala Center Cebu adorned with children’s cartoon characters and decorations to entice the children.
Doctor Jeffrey Ibones, head of the CHD, said that for now, the two sites would suffice since the available doses were still low with only 6,000 doses allotted for Cebu City.
The 6,000 doses can only serve 3,000 children as each child needs two doses inoculated 21 days apart.
The city expects that more children will get vaccinated in the coming weeks because the city is the one setting the schedule for each registered child.
“If mahurot na ang doses, mangayo lang gyod sa Department of Health (DOH),” said Ibones.
(If the doses will all be used, we will just ask for more from the Department of Health [DOH].)
The city only targets around 500 children vaccinated per site per day to reach the number of registered minors, which is now over 8,000.
Ibones reminds parents that for now, no walk-ins are allowed because of the limited doses.
Parents must also bring their children to the right site where they are scheduled for vaccination or else they will be considered as a walk-in and will not be prioritized.
The CHD will still cater to walk-ins through the quick substitution list, but parents and children may have to wait a while to get vaccinated.
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