The Department of Health (DOH) has expressed openness to include soon the young children in the COVID-19 vaccination program, but stressed that vaccine manufacturers and developers should provide sufficient data on its safety and efficacy.

“Malaking bagay yan kung magkakaroon na ng approval, or magkakaroon ng bakuna which would be appropriate for our children because we also consider the children as vulnerable sectors of society. Kaya gusto natin ma-protektahan sila (It would be great if there would be an approval, or there would be a vaccine which would be appropriate for our children because we also consider the children as a vulnerable sector of society. So we want to protect them also),” said DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.

Vergeire said children aged 12 years old and below comprised 28 percent of the country’s total population.

Currently, those who have been allowed to be vaccinated for COVID-19 in the Philippines are individuals aged 18 years old and above.

“That I think is a very important and critical na hakbang para sa buong mundo. Hindi lang para sa Pilipinas at Estados Unidos ngunit sa buong mundo dahil gusto natin lahat maproteksyunan ang ating mga kabataan (That I think is a very important and critical step for the whole world. Not just for the Philippines and the United States but around the world because we all want to protect our young population),” she said.

“At kapag nagkaroon na ng bakuna ang ating mga kabataan, nandyan na din ang magiging hudyat para mabuksan ang mga eskwelahan na matagal pong nakasara (If our young people are vaccinated, it will also serve as a signal to open the schools that have been closed for a long time already),” she added.

The Health official said that before they could allow the use of vaccines for young people, enough studies should be conducted first to ascertain its safety.

“Ang manufacturer or yong specific brand na nagkaroon na ng pag-aaral na yan, bibigyan tayo ng additional documents and evidences so that they can be able to provide us evidence to say na appropriate, it's going to be safe and effective for this specific sector in our society (The manufacturer or the specific brand that has already done that study, should give us additional documents and evidence to say that it is appropriate, it's going to be safe and effective for this specific sector in our society),” said Vergeire.

In the United States, around 600,000 children, aged 12 to 15, have received their first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines, based on a Reuters report. It reported that the said vaccine brand was the “first to be cleared in the United States for children 12 to 15.”