More than 1,500 children aged 12 to 17 have already been vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
"Total vaccinated as of Oct.16 is 1,509 as of 8 p.m." Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a media forum Monday, Oct. 18.
She said of those given the COVID shots, they were able to record four adverse effects following immunization (AEFIs).
"One saw a rise in blood pressure, one had allergic reaction, and two were ruled as stress-related or anxieties due to immunization," said Vergeire.
"We only have brief details as they have yet to be officially reported to the Food and Drug Administration," she added.
Vergeire, meantime, said the pediatric inoculation has been very very smooth so far.
"The flow of processes was very smooth for first few days of vaccination," she said.
"The key has been the pre-vaccination assessment and the clearance from the doctors. There have also been no problem with the giving of consent and assent of the parents and minors," added Vergeire.
The national government, together with the eight participating hospitals in the National Capital Region (NCR) commenced the pilot run of pediatric vaccination of 12 to 17 year old children with comorbidities on Oct. 15.
The DOH said that, as part of the wider coverage of the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out in the country, children in this age group with comorbidities are scheduled to receive the vaccines with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), namely, Pfizer and Moderna.
The initial run of the vaccination will also be conducted in hospitals where children will be screened and monitored by doctors, and facilitating referrals will be easier in case of serious adverse events following immunization.
It will also be conducted in a phased approach, wherein part of the expansion plan is implementing it in regions where there is more than 50 percent coverage for Priority Group A2.
Meanwhile, a total of 12,970 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have so far been wasted.
Vergeire said most of the reasons would be temperature excursions.
"There was a fire in Cotabato and Ilocos Norte and our vaccines were affected," she said.
"We also received a report of wastage due to transport," added Vergeire.
She said there were also incidents of vaccines having no labels or labels were damaged, and doses having particulate matters.