Health experts urged the Department of Health (DOH) and the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to conduct a COVID-19 vaccination day solely for kids amid the recent spike of infections in the country.
In a webinar titled “Omicron Truths and Myths, Pediatric COVID-19 vaccine news and the Journey to the New Normal” held on Tuesday, Jan. 25, health experts proved the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines.
During the same webinar, Philippine Medical Association (PMA) president Dr. Benny Atienza disclosed that their medical society urged the national government to conduct a “vaccination day for children” to ramp up the country’s inoculation drive amid the spike of infections.
“The PMA is suggesting to the DOH and IATF that there should be a National Children’s Vaccination Day to encourage the parents, the community, or their children to be vaccinated,” said Atienza.
Atienza added that the proposed vaccination day for children is important, especially among the age group of five to 11-year-olds, as well as the 12 to 18-year-olds, considering that only a small percentage of these age groups have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Meanwhile, the executive director of the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination (PFV) Dr. Lulu Bravo reiterated that the only way that the country could end this pandemic is through an all-out vaccination.
“Vaccination is the way for it. It is the way that we can end this pandemic... the immunity that we all deserve to get, not just from a previous infection, but from vaccination,” Bravo said.
Bravo also recalled the worldwide pandemic that occurred in 1918.
“Did you know that in the 1918 pandemic, at least 10 percent of the world’s population died from flu? We don’t want that to happen . That’s the reason why vaccines are here to protect us,” she reiterated.