Over 800K adolescents injected against COVID-19, DOH says

The Philippines has vaccinated more than 800,000 adolescents ages 12 to 17 against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the Department of Health said Friday.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the agency has recorded 0.10% adverse reactions, most of which were mild, temporary, and expected.

“Katulad ng vaccine site pain, dizziness, ‘yung iba sumasakit ‘yung ulo, ‘yung iba nagkaroon ng mild allergic reactions but were managed acccordingly. Kaya ito po ay kailangan lang bantayan lang maigi,” she said in a media briefing.

(These were vaccine-site pain, dizziness, headaches, allergic reactions. But these were managed accordingly. That’s why need to monitor this closely.)

Also, Vergeire said the government’s pediatric vaccination is successful.

“Nagiging successful naman ang ating adolescent vaccination dahil nakikita natin na ‘yung mga reaction ay mostly mild lang naman sila, nama-manage, nakakauwi ang ating mga bata sa kanilang mga bahay,” she said.

(Our adolescent vaccination is successful because we can see that the reactions are mostly mild, and are managed, thus the children can go home.)

“So hinihikayat natin ang ating mga magulang, dalhin na po natin ang ating mga 12 to 17-year-olds for their vaccination, para po sila ay maprotektahan na rin,” she pointed out.

(So we encourage our parents to please vaccinate their children aged 12 to 17 so they can also be protected against COVID-19.)

Earlier, the DOH said that the Food and Drug Administration is already expecting Pfizer to submit an emergency use authorization application for the vaccination of the 5 to 11 age group.

So far, the Philippines has logged a total of 2,821,753 COVID-19 cases. —LBG, GMA News