The Department of Health (DOH) has bared the list of 11 medical conditions that would qualify children aged 12 to 17 in the pilot vaccination of adolescents against coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
According to the DOH, these health conditions are medical complexity, genetic conditions, neurologic conditions, metabolic/endocrine, cardiovascular disease, obesity, HIV infection, tuberculosis, chronic respiratory disease, renal disorders, and hepatobiliary.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Monday, Oct. 4, said the DOH came up with a list of medical condition, illnesses, and diseases that are considered as comorbidities for the pilot vaccination of adolescents.
“As to the criteria ng mga kabataan na masasama, meron tayong listahan ng mga sakit na kasama as comorbidities para dito sa gagawin nating (of children to be included in the pilot, we have a list of diseases that are included as comorbidities for this) pilot implementation for vaccines for 12 to 17 years old,” Vergeire said in a virtual briefing.
In a recent radio interview, DOH Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje announced that the pilot vaccination of children will start first on children with comorbidities.
She added that the vaccination will be piloted in three hospitals in Metro Manila namely National Children’s Hospital, Philippine Heart Center, and Philippine General Hospital.
Pre-requisites for vaccination
Vergeire said that children with comorbidities that are up for vaccination must secure a clearance from a doctor as part of the pre-requisites for the inoculation.
“Ang mga major natin na pre-requisites would be kailangan may clearance ng doctor ang mga kabataan na babakunhan with commorbidities, kailangan ding may informed consent at assent itong gagawing pagbabakuna (Our major pre-requisites would be that young people to be vaccinated with commorbidities need to have a doctor's clearance, they also need to have informed consent and assent to be vaccinated),” she said.
“Ibig sabihin ang kanilang magulang ay kailangan magkaroon ng consent dito, pipirma sila sa isang dokumento at pangalawa, yung bata mismo na babakunahan ay mas assent para dito (This means that their parent must have consent to it, they will sign a document and secondly, the child to be vaccinated has assent for it),” she added.
Moreover, the Health official said that children must be monitored after vaccination.
“That’s why we are doing this as an initial pilot sa mga ospital para mas maayos ang proseso at mas mamonitor natin ang mga kabataang bibigyan ng bakuna (in hospitals so that the process can be smoother and we can better monitor the children who will be vaccinated) against COVID-19,” she said.