The country may expect the arrival of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine doses for children aged five to 11 by mid-January, said the National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 on Monday, Jan. 10.
“In fact meron na tayong inorder na pediatric . ‘Yung para sa five to eleven years old, na-order na natin ‘yun at alam ko ay darating ‘yun ng middle of January. Kapag ‘yun ay dumating, makakapag-umpisa na tayo mag bakuna ng ating mga bata edad singko hanggang 11 (In fact we have an order for the pediatric population. This is for five to 11 year olds. We have already ordered that and it will arrive in the middle of January. Once it arrives, we may start our vaccination drive for children aged five to 11),” said NTF special adviser Dr. Teodoro “Ted” Herbosa in the “Laging Handa” public briefing.
“Ito’y hinihintay ng maraming magulang para maprotektahan ang ating mga kabataan (Many parents are waiting for its arrival to protect our youth),” he reiterated.
The Department of Health (DOH) previously stated that the first supply of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines for aged five to 11 will arrive in the country by the end of January or by the first week of February.
Meanwhile, the country’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccines among children aged five to 11 years old on Dec. 23, 2021.