The country's Covid-19 vaccination rate among children aged five to 11 years old remains below 50 percent, the Department of Health (DOH) said.

“Pag tiningnan yung ating mga accomplishments for vaccination, yung mga bata, sila yung may pinakamababa (When we look at our vaccination accomplishments, the children have the lowest accomplishment),” said DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire in a press briefing on Tuesday, Oct. 11.

“They are just less than 50 percent—around 46 percent accomplishment for the five to 11 years old,” she added.

Around 5.1 million children under the said age group were fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as of Oct. 10, latest data from the DOH showed.

These children are eligible to receive the two-dose primary Covid-19 vaccine series. The vaccination program for this age group started last February and about 15 million children are eligible to get vaccinated.

The slow uptake of vaccines for this age group can be attributed to the hesitancy of parents, said Vergeire.

“Unang-una natin na kalaban or challenge natin pag sa mga bata (Our first challenge when it comes to children) would be the hesitancy of their parents to get their children vaccinated,” she said.

Vergeire once again encouraged parents to let their children receive their vaccines, especially with the full implementation of face-to-face classes come Nov. 2.

“So, we are encouraging, kami po ay hinikayat natin ang ating mga magulang, lalong-lalo na tayo ay nagtutuloy-tuloy na sa face-to-face classes (especially now with the full implementation of face-to-face classes),” she said.

“Ito pong mga bakuna na inaalok natin para sa ating mga kabataan ay natagpuang ligtas, epektibo laban sa Covid-19 (These vaccines that we offer for our children have been found to be safe and effective against Covid-19),” she added.

Covid-19 vaccination for kids less than 5 years old

In a related development, the Covid-19 vaccination for individuals aged four years old and below is still under study, the DOH said.

To note, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is conducting an evaluation to the emergency use authorization (EUA) application of Pfizer-BioNTech for its Covid-19 vaccine for children as young as six months old, said Dr. Nina Gloriani during the Laging Handa press briefing last Oct. 6.

“Meron na pong application and ‘yan po ay sinusuri na ng mga eksperto kung makakabuti iyan. Nasa FDA na po (There is already an application and that is being assessed by our experts to see if it will be good. It's already in the FDA),” said Gloriani.

Vergeire said that the DOH is waiting for the results of the evaluation of the FDA.

“In other countries, they have started vaccinating. Inaantay pa ho natin yung evaluation ng FDA natin kung ito po ay makakapasa sa inaaply nila na EUA dito sa ating bansa (We are still waiting for the FDA evaluation if they can secure an EUA they are applying for in our country) for vaccines for Covid-19 for less than five years old,” said Vergeire.