QC urges nat’l gov’t to expand vaccination to minors

Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte on Friday requested the national government to expand the vaccination program against COVID-19 to include minors.

Belmonte’s call came after more than 100 children at the Gentle Hands Orphanage in Barangay Bagumbuhay tested positive for the illness.

Citing a report from the City Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Unit (CESU), Belmonte said a total of 12,608 minors in the city had tested positive. She added that minors comprise 30% of the city’s population.

“What health experts are now pushing for can not be achieved in our city if we will not allow children or those below 18 years old to get COVID-19 vaccines, and help them as well from getting seriously sick from the virus,” Belmonte said in a statement.

Of the 1,327 active cases recorded between August 26 to September 8, the LGU said 48 are less than a year old, at least 597 are aged between one and 10, while 682 are between 11 to 17 years old.

Belmonte said the city is ready to start inoculating children once the proposal is approved by the government.

"We understand that there is a vaccine shortage at the moment but once our country gets a regular supply of vaccines with FDA approval for vaccinating 17 and below we should consider this right away,” she said.

“We need to protect our children given that they are directly or indirectly exposed," she added.

The Philippine government has approved the amendment in the Emergency Use Authorization of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine to include its use on adolescents aged 12 to 17 years old.

However, the DOH said it has yet to issue a recommendation to have children vaccinated against the illness.

The Philippines has logged a total of 2,179,770 confirmed cases, of which 1,969,401 have recovered and 34,899 have died. -- Joahna Lei Casilao/BAP, GMA News