The government is targeting to start administering Covid-19 vaccine booster shots to immunocompromised children aged 12 to 17 next week, an official of the Department of Health (DOH) said.

"We are looking at mid-next week to start with immunocompromised," said Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje in a text message to Manila Bulletin.

The Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC) has already submitted to the DOH its recommendation for the administration of Covid-19 boosters to children under the said age bracket.

Cabotaje said that they are just waiting for the approval of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III. She added that they already have a “template” for the guidelines.

“Then we discuss with our policy group, our other concerned experts, and even some of our implementers. We expect by Monday out, orient our implementers, so we can start soonest—Tuesday or Wednesday,” she said.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that local government units should first wait for the release of the guidelines before they can start the booster vaccination for minors.

"We are just waiting for the approval of the secretary and hopefully by next week we can be able to implement. Kailangan lang antayin ng local governments ang guidelines na ibibigay (Local governments just need to wait for the guidelines to be released)," she said during a public briefing.

The Food and Drug Administration has recently amended the emergency use authorization of Pfizer vaccine for it to be used as a booster shot for this age group, said Vergeire.

The Philippines started the Covid-19 vaccination for children aged 12 to 17 in October last year.

Citing data from Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the DOH said there are around 12.7 million children under this age group.

As of June 9, DOH data shows that 9.4 million minors aged 12 to 17 were already fully-vaccinated or have completed their two-dose primary vaccination series.

Related story:
DOH to release Covid-19 booster shot guidelines for kids aged 12 to 17 soon