The Pateros municipal government has launched the registration for the vaccination of minors aged 5 to 11 years old.

Mayor Miguel “Ike” Ponce III made the announcement after the country’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to be used for 5 to 11-year-olds.

“Because we may start anytime–we are just waiting for the guidelines–the vaccination of the pedia from 5 to 11 years old,” said Ponce during a live broadcast on Facebook.

He said people can register using a QR code that was posted on the Facebook page of the municipal government.

In the vaccination form for 5 to 11 years old, residents need to register the name, birthdate, indicate whether the child has comorbidity, contact number, barangay, parents’ names, age and address.

Last Dec. 23 during the “Laging Handa” public briefing, FDA Director General Eric Domingo announced the approval for the use of Pfizer for 5 to 11 years old.

He said Pfizer applied for EUA for the use of its vaccine for 5 to 11 years old at the end of November.

“This vaccine is already being used in children in many countries such as the US, in Europe and in Canada and upon the review of the technical documents and the evaluation of the US FDA recommendations, our experts have found that data submitted is sufficient for the EUA approval,” said Domingo.

Domingo said “it is reasonable to believe that the vaccine may be effective to prevent COVID-19 and the benefits of vaccination outweigh the known and potential risks.”

He said the efficacy rate of the Pfizer vaccine is above 90 percent for children 5 to 11 years old and the adverse events during the clinical trial were “very mild” like slight fever and pain in the injection area but no “unusual or important safety signals.”

The FDA chief said the dosage that will be given to 5 to 11 years old will be lower than those given to adults.

“The vaccine being used for adults and 12 to 17 will not be used for children ,” he added.