Duque says pediatric societies studying inoculation of kids

Following the expansion of the emergency use authorization (EUA) of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to cover individuals aged 12 and above, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the Philippine Pediatrics Society (PPS) and the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society of the Philippines (PIDSP) have vowed to study the inoculation of children younger than 12 against COVID-19.

At a congressional hearing, Duque stressed that prudence dictates that this matter should still be studied carefully.

"Mas magandang pag-aralan pa ito at ibigay natin sa Pediatrics Society of the Philippines at sa Pediatric Infectious Disease Society of the Philippines na tingnan at sumang-ayon din naman sila na pag-aaralan pa din nila ito dahil maraming implikasyon ito eh," Duque said.

(It's better to study this further and let the PPS and the PIDSP look into it and they have agreed to conduct a study since this has a lot of implications.)

"Una 'yung consent form, wala namang nakalagay sa consent form na 'yung bata ay kasama at ano ba ang magiging arrangement dito. Malabo pa po 'yun eh, wala pa tayong malinaw na hakbang patungkol dito," he added.

(First, the consent form does not cover children and if ever, what will be the arrangement. We don't have a clear-cut step on this matter.)

Duque also clarified that the vaccination of children is not yet included in the government's prioritization framework. He added that health experts would also study the implications of vaccinating children in other countries.

"Tama po kayo, pag-aaralan pa po talaga ito at hindi naman po sila kasama ngayon doon sa ating prioritization framework, A1, A2, A3, A4... kung A5, kung titingnan niyo di talaga sila kasama (This needs further study since children currently are not included in the government's prioritization framework, or in any of the categories)," Duque said.

"Ito po ay magkakaroon ng sapat na panahon para makita rin natin kung ano ang magiging karanasan, ginagawa na nila ito sa ibang bansa eh na binibigay sa ibang bata at matututunan natin kung ano po ang maging epekto (Other countries have been administering vaccines on children and let's see what the effects will be," he added.

Duque's clarification came after at least two lawmakers, Representatives Eric Pineda and Bernadette Herrera-Dy, expressed concern over vaccinating children.

Pineda said the public is concerned about the vaccines' side effects on young ones.

"A lot of people are scared because of the side effects... after six months, especially those who where given the mRNA vaccine, Pfizer," Pineda said.

"Huwag na po natin gamitin 'yung mga bata muna, baka magkaroon tayo ng second round ng Dengvaxia dito (Let us not vaccinate children yet because we might have another Dengvaxia incident here)," he added, referring to the controversial anti-dengue vaccine.

The Dengvaxia controversy arose in November 2017 when manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur announced that the vaccine may lead to more severe symptoms of dengue for those who have never been infected by the virus prior to vaccination.

As a result, the Department of Health stopped the school-based dengue immunization program and proposed to President Rodrigo Duterte a panel of Asian health experts that will look into safety issues raised against the vaccine.

More than 100 parents have since blamed the deaths of their children to the dengue vaccine and filed criminal complaints against government officials responsible for the immunization program. Many of the cases are now in court, more are pending with prosecutors. -MDM, GMA News