Two private hospitals in Taguig will be vaccinating minors aged 12 to 17 with comorbidities.
According to the city government’s TRACE Taguig, the vaccination of minors with comorbidities, classified by the Department of Health (DOH) under Pediatric A3 priority group, will be done by St. Luke’s Medical Center-Global City in Bonifacio Global City and Medical Center Taguig.
St. Luke’s Medical Center-Global City will start inoculating minors on Oct. 25 while Medical Center Taguig, located in Brgy. Ususan, will start on Oct. 26.
To get a vaccination schedule, according to TRACE Taguig, minors may register through TRACE at trace.taguig.gov.ph or register through TRACE and go to the barangay health center and give the details for pediatric vaccination. Registrants need to wait for a text message confirming their schedule.
The Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier approved Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for use in people 12 years old and above.
According to DOH’s Department Circular 2021-0464, the comorbidities for 12 to 17-year-olds eligible for the vaccine are: medical complexity, genetic conditions, neurologic conditions, metabolic/endocrine diseases, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, HIV infection, tuberculosis, chronic respiratory diseases, renal disorders, hepatobiliary diseases and immunocompromised state due to disease or treatment.
Parents and guardians need to prepare the following documents: medical certificate, proof of filiation/kinship and proof of identity. For proof of identity, the following ID cards of the parent or guardian that can be presented are: SSS card, GSIS card, Unified Multi-Purpose Identification (UMID) card, Land Transportation Office (LTO) driver’s license, Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) ID, Philippine Identification (PhilID), Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) E-Card, Commission on Elections (Comelec) voter’s ID or voter’s certificate, senior citizen ID, Philippine Postal ID, seafarer’s record book, valid or latest passport or others.
According to the DOH circular, there are four phases in the vaccination of 12 to 17-year-olds with comorbidities:
1. First Phase: vaccination rollout in selected hospitals in the National Capital Region (NCR) as determined by DOH, where the hospitals shall vaccinate their patients/cohorts.
2. Second Phase: vaccination rollout in hospitals as identified by the 17 LGUs of the NCR. Each LGU shall select at least one hospital for the rollout, either an LGU-managed or a private-owned hospital.
3. Third Phase: vaccination rollout in hospitals region-wide once the region reached >50% regional vaccination coverage of fully vaccinated Priority Group A2: Senior Citizens. Other regions may also conduct initial rollout in selected hospitals.
4. Fourth Phase: as determined by NVOC, the vaccination rollout to regions may be expanded utilizing regular vaccination sites.