Out of the nearly 10,000 children aged five to 11 years old who were vaccinated against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), only one of them experienced side effect following immunization, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. revealed Tuesday, Feb. 8.

Galvez said that the lone case, who experienced rashes after being inoculated, was recorded in Paranaque City during the launching of the pediatric vaccination for the said age group on Monday.

“Thanks God, wala pong major adverse effect. Isa lang po sa Paranaque ang may side effect pero rashes lang po. Ibig sabihin lang po ang bakuna ay safe and effective (Thanks God, there was no recorded adverse effect. There was one in Paranaque who had a side effect but it’s only rashes. This only means that the vaccine is safe and effective),” said Galvez during the second day of the launching of the pediatric vaccination for the younger population at SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City.

Galvez did not identify the said vaccinee but he assured that everything went well after the case was told to rest and monitored by the on-site medical team.

“Naging maayos at matagumpay ang ating initial rollout sa anim na vaccination sites sa Metro Manila at mayroon po tayong more or less 33 vaccination sites nationwide na nagsimula na rin po. Base sa ating pinakahuling datos, umabot po sa almost 10,000 ang ating nabakunahan sa nasabing age group (The initial rollout went ordersly and successful in six vaccination sites in Metro Manila and we have more or less 33 vaccination sites nationwide that have also started . Based on the latest data, we have almost 10,000 who got vaccinated in the said age group),” Galvez noted.

As of 4 p.m. Monday, a total of 7,416 children were vaccinated during the pilot implementation of the pediatric inoculation of children age five to 11 years old.

Galvez reiterated that the reformulated Pfizer vaccine is fit for consumption of the younger population since it contains a lower dosage of 10 micrograms, or just one-third of the regular vaccine used on the adult population which is 30 micrograms per dosage.

“Talagang mababa siya (It really has a lower ),” he explained.

Zero to four years old kids up next?

Meanwhile, the vaccine czar revealed that the vaccination of children age zero to four years old may soon be approved once it is allowed in the United States and if Pfizer-BioNtech, the American vaccine manufacturer of Pfizer vaccine, applies for an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the said age group in the Philippines.

“Huwag po tayo mag-alala dahil ang United States ay magkakaroon po ng announcement later, most likely ang zero to four this February baka po maaprubahan ng FDA ‘yong kanilang reformulated na vaccine (Let us not worry because the United States will make an announcement later, that most likely the of their zero to four year olds this February if the FDA approves their reformulated vaccine),” Galvez said.

“So ibig sabihin kung ang US na talagang mga eksperto at Europe ay nagsisimula na mag-isip ng zero to four, ibig sabihin naperfect na nila ‘yong reformulated na vaccine sa five to 11 (If the US and Europe, which are really experts, have already started thinking the zero to four year old , that means they have really perfected the reformulated vaccine for five to 11 year olds),” he stated.