About 400,000 children aged 12 to 17 have already been vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said.

FDA Director-General Rolando Enrique Domingo said at least 10 children experienced adverse events following immunization (AEFI).

Among the side effects experienced include body pain, allergies, and hyperventilation. All of them were properly managed, said Domingo.

“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 nagkaroon ng problema (So far, based on our monitoring, about 400,000 children have been vaccinated. We have not seen any serious adverse events that caused problems),” said Domingo in an interview with radio DZBB on Sunday, Nov. 14.

Domingo encouraged the parents and their children to immediately get vaccinated against the viral illness.

Only those with comorbidities are required to present a medical certificate from their physician before they can be vaccinated.

“Hindi naman kailangan ng medical certificate para magpabakuna ng bata 12 to 17. Basta walang sakit at pupunta sa vaccination centers, pwede naman bakunahan

(A medical certificate is not needed for the vaccination of children aged 12 to 17. As long as you don't have any comorbidities, you can go to vaccination centers, you can be vaccinated),” he said.

There are a total of 12,722,070 children aged 12 to 17 in the country, based on the data of the Department of Health (DOH).