The initial launch of the pediatric coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination for children aged five to 11 years old is scheduled on Feb. 7, 2022, said the National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 special adviser Dr. Teodoro “Ted” Herbosa on Saturday, Feb. 5.
“Ito ‘yung naantalang launching na nangyari kahapon dahil sa pag-antala ng pagdeliver nitong mga bakunang ito, yung 780,000 doses, nadelay ng isang araw. Ngayon nandito na, pwede na tayo mag umpisa sa anim na locations (This is the postponed launch that was originally scheduled yesterday, Feb. 4. It was postponed due to the delay in the delivery of these 780,000 doses of vaccines. Now that it has arrived, we can start vaccinating children in the six identified locations),” said Herbosa in a DZBB interview.
The six initial vaccination sites include the Philippine Heart Center, Philippine Children’s Medical Center, National Children’s Hospital, Manila Zoo, SM North EDSA Skydome, and FilOil Gym in San Juan, but the NTF said that it will be expanded to other regions on Feb. 14.
Meanwhile, Herbosa added that the national government aims to vaccinate more or less than 500 children in each vaccination site during the initial launch of the pediatric inoculation drive for five to 11-year-olds.
“Parang mga nasa 500 lang bawat site or less kasi launching pa lang naman ito. Tinitignan natin ang proseso, laging mas mabagal ang ginagawa natin at first time tayong magbabakuna ng ganito kabata (We are aiming to vaccinate more or less than 500 individuals because this is just the launching. We need to look at the process and we always do it slower during a launch. Besides, this is also the first time that we will vaccinate children within this age group),” Herbosa added.