60 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine allocated to young people

About 60 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine will be allocated for youth, according to vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr.

According to Galvez, there are 12.7 million young people aged 12 to 17, but the total number of “children population” will reach 29 million.

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Meanwhile, Health Secretary Francisco Duque announced that there are guidelines for vaccinating young people aged 12 to 17 years old.

Duque said those aged 15 to 17 will be vaccinated first before those aged 12 to 14.

He said parental consent will still be required, and it will not be left to the youths to decide whether to get vaccinated.

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Meanwhile, a pediatrician insisted that parents should not worry about the side effects of COVID-19 vaccines now that they are expected to start vaccination in young people.

On TeleRadyo, Dr. Cynthia Cuayo-Juico said that the vaccine against COVID-19 can have side effects in children.

She said these include normal fever, headache, chills, and pain in the injected arm.

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She said there is also a study in America wherein vaccinated children could have inflammation inside or outside their hearts.

But she said it should not be feared.

60 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine allocated to young people

“So pericarditis, myocarditis, pero ito naman ay napakonti at ito ay nangyayari usually sa mga lalaki at ‘yung mga teenagers, pero konting-konti lang. Ito naman hindi tulad ng pericarditis, myocarditis sa matatanda, very self-limiting at gumagaling agad. Ang mga sintomas nun ay kinakabahan mabilis ang tibok ng puso,” said Dr. Cynthia Cuayo-Juico.

“Phased” pediatric vaccinations are scheduled to occur starting October 15 in the country, with priority to ages 15 to 17 with comorbidity.

The vaccination will be conducted at six pilot hospitals, including the Philippine Children’s Medical Center, National Children’s Hospital, Philippine Heart Center, Pasig City Children’s Hospital, Fe Del Mundo Medical Center, and Philippine General Hospital.

It will take longer before the Philippines achieves the target of vaccinating 70% of the population. Instead of this year, the government said it could complete it in February 2022, a few months before the 2022 elections.

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez told President Rodrigo Duterte that half of the Philippine population would be vaccinated by 2021. Up to 160 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines will come this year.

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