Tuguegarao City, Cagayan – Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said on Sunday, August 8, that the national government is considering the inclusion of children and teenagers in the immunization program against COVID-19.
Galvez said that by September or October of this year, minors aged 12 to 17 are eyed to also be inoculated with COVID-19 vaccines after the government’s assessment of the deadly new Delta variant.
“We proposed to the NITAG (Interim National Immunization Technical Advisory Group for COVID-19 vaccines) and to our experts that we have to include children as soon as possible considering that they will be also vulnerable, particularly those with comorbidities,” Galvez said in a statement.
The vaccine czar also described how the Delta variant has affected so many children in India, and now has also infected Filipino children currently in severe condition in Metro Manila.
So far, Pfizer is the lone pharmaceutical company to have an approved COVID-19 vaccine to be used for minors aged 12 to 15.
Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently assessing Sinovac’s application for approval of their CoronaVac to be used for ages 3 to 17.
Galvez also bared that the national government is planning to secure 26 million more vaccines designated for the age group of 12 to 15 year olds. TNF