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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Solon wants Covid-19 vaccination for kids aged 3 to 5

Solon wants Covid-19 vaccination for kids aged 3 to 5

Published Sep 13, 2022 01:13 pm

Now that the use of face masks is optional in outdoor environments, Deputy Majority Leader Iloilo 3rd District Rep. Lorenz Defensor thinks that it’s high time that children aged three to five be inoculated against Covid-19.

Coronavirus vaccines have been prepared for distribution at a vaccination site in Manila on May 18, 2021. (Ali Vicoy/Manila Bulletin)

Malacañang announced on Monday, Sept. 12, that Executive Order (EO) No. 3 had taken effect. This makes the use of face masks in outdoor environments optional.

READ: https://mb.com.ph/2022/09/12/face-masks-are-now-voluntary-in-outdoor-settings/

“With Malacañang’s recent order to allow voluntary wearing of face masks in non-crowded outdoor areas, our children need more protection from Covid-19. And I believe that their inclusion in the government’s vaccination program will better protect them against the disease,” Defensor said during the Ugnayan sa Batasan Majority News Forum on Tuesday, Sept. 13.

Defensor previously filed House Resolution (HR) 263 last Aug. 16, which urges the national government and the Department of Health (DOH]) to include the aforementioned youth age group to be included in the country’s vaccination program.

“In 2022 alone, there are at least three new Covid-19 sub-variants in the country that are more transmissible than the earlier COVID-19 variants, namely Omicron, BA.5, BA 2.12.1 and BA.4...According to the World Health Organization, children under the age of 5 have a higher risk of other diseases with clinical presentations that overlap with Covid-19, such as pneumonia and other viral upper respiratory tract infections, which may lead to misclassification,” Defensor wrote in his resolution.

Currently, only children aged five to 11 are included in the Department of Health (DOH)’s pediatric vaccination program against Covid-19.

In his resolution, he said that over 1,300 cases of Covid-19 in children below five years of age had been reported as of March 2022, citing the “Surveillance and Analysis of COVID-19 in Children Nationwide” by the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society of the Philippines.

To further back his proposal, Defensor noted that the United States (US) Food and Drug Association (FDA) had issued emergency use authorization (EUA) for Moderna brand Covid-19 jabs to be used on children aged 6 months to 17 years old, and Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines for children aged six months to four years old.

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