50 million Pfizer doses for kids 5 to 11 arriving January 2022

At least 50 million doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine purchased by the government will arrive in late January to inoculate minors aged 5 to 11 years old against the viral disease, National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 special adviser announced on Friday.

“Good news is we have already purchased 50 million doses for the children from 5 to 11,” NTF special adviser Dr. Ted Herbosa said in a webinar.

“Probably by mid January the first delivery of Pfizer is supposed to arrive so maybe the late January we can start to vaccinating the 5 to 11 years old so I’m sure many parents will be happy with that,” he added.

Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje earlier said that the government is eyeing to inoculate minors aged 5 to 11 against COVID-19 on the first week of February.

Last December 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved the emergency use authorization for the Pfizer vaccine for the said age group.

Herbosa also encouraged the public to get vaccinated against viral disease to prevent the rising COVID-19 infections.

“If you get ill, do not be an agent of transmission. Second, get vaccinated. And if you need to go out, wear a mask,” he said.

He also assured the public that the government is prepared for the Omicron variant.

The Philippines on Thursday detected 29 more cases of the more transmissible Omicron coronavirus variant, bringing the total confirmed cases in the country to 43.

Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DOH) on Friday logged 21,819 new COVID-19 cases increasing the nationwide COVID-19 tally to 2,910,664.—LDF, GMA News