Philippines targets COVID-19 vaccination of 13.5M kids aged 5 to 11

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is eyeing to immunize around 13.5 million children aged five to 11 against COVID-19 after it expanded its vaccination drive to minors last month.  

In a briefing, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the country has “enough” supply to vaccinate Filipinos, including adolescents aged five to 11.

The government, however, has yet to provide a target date for the inoculation of this age group.

“We will wait for the emergency use authorization issued by the Food and Drug Administration for the inclusion of this specific sector of society,” Vergeire said in Filipino.

Last month, the Philippines started administering COVID-19 jabs to young people aged 12 to 17.

Only the vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are being used in the inoculation of minors.

The government allowed thousands of children in select areas to return to schools in mid-November, for the first time since the start of the pandemic in a pilot run of limited face-to-face classes.

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