The Food and Drug Administration said Sunday that, so far, there is no adverse reactions reported among children in the 12-17 age group who got their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
FDA Director General Eric Domingo told Super Radyo dzBB that only a few children — nine from those who got the Pfizer vaccine, and one who got Moderna — experienced allergies, hyperventilation, and post-vaccination body pain but got better the next day.
At present, the FDA has approved only Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for children ages 12 to 17.
“So far, yung monitoring natin, siguro mga 400,000 na ‘yung nabakunahan na mga bata, wala naman tayong nakikita na adverse events na grabe, na talaga pong nagkaron ng problema,” Domingo said.
(So far, with about 400,000 minors already vaccinated, we have not seen any adverse events that really caused problems.)
Domingo also said that minors with no underlying conditions need not present medical certificates from their doctors before getting vaccinated, except those who have comorbidities.
“Hindi naman kailangan ng medical certificate para magpabakuna ng bata aged 12-17. Basta walang sakit at pupunta sa vaccination centers, pwede naman bakunahan,” he said.
The government started its pediatric inoculation program on October 15 for those with comorbidities, and on November 3 for all minors in the 12-17 age group.
Government data show that there are 12.7 million children ages 12 to 17 in the country, with 1.2 million of them having comorbidities. The government is targeting to vaccinate 80% or around 10 million of them by December 2021.
5 to 11 age group
For the vaccination of kids ages 5 to 11, Domingo said they might be receiving only half of the dose due to their lighter body weight.
“‘Yung 5-11, parang kalahati lang kasi syempre ang gamot diba kinukwenta natin ‘yan depending sa timbang din ng paseyente at syempre ‘yung 5-11 na mga bata, mas maliliit ‘yun,” he said.
Earlier, the Department of Health said that they are looking at vaccinating minors in the 5-11 age group against COVID-19 by next year.
An authorization guided by the recommendation of experts, including the Health Technology Assessment Council, is needed before implementing the plan. —LBG, GMA News
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