Nearly 23,000 minors, aged 12 to 17 years old, have been fully vaccinated in Muntinlupa, the city government announced.
As of Dec. 26, the Muntinlupa City Health Office (CHO) and Muntinlupa COVID-19 Vaccination Program (MunCoVac) said 22,836 minors got their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, or 41 percent of the estimated total population of 55,391 for 12 to 17 years old in the city.
By barangay, out of the 22,836, Putatan has 4,881 fully vaccinated minors, followed by Poblacion, 3,836; Tunasan, 3,442; Cupang, 2,778; Alabang, 2,689; Sucat, 2,347; Bayanan, 1,850; Buli, 368; and Ayala Alabang, 289. Non-residents who are fully vaccinated totaled 355.
In addition, 27,515 minors have been vaccinated with their first dose, or 50 percent of the population for the age group in Muntinlupa.
The Muntinlupa City government said that as of Dec. 26, a total of 43,893 12-to-17-year-olds have registered with MunCoVac, or 79 percent of the population for the age group.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had earlier approved the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for minors aged 5 to 11 years old.
However, the Department of Health (DOH) said the vaccination of children below 12 years old has not started yet.
“The National Vaccination Operations Center will announce the exact start date as soon as COVID-19 vaccines suitable for the ages 5 to 11 and its appropriate syringes become available," the DOH said.
National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said “we are now negotiating for the availability of those vaccines for our children.”
The Philippines has recorded its fourth Omicron variant case in a 38-year-old female traveler from the US who arrived in the country last Dec. 10. On Dec. 13, she experienced throat itchiness and colds. The patient was released from an isolation facility and is asymptomatic on Dec. 24. She is under home isolation.