Pampanga begins vax roll out for kids aged 5-11

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The province of Pampanga has started its COVID-19 vaccination drive among children 5 to 11 years old at the Jose B. Lingad Memorial General Hospital (JBLMGH).

National Task Force Against COVID-19 Deputy Chief Implementer Vince Dizon, during his message in the launch of the Resbakuna Kids campaign, encouraged parents not to be reluctant in getting their children jabbed as the vaccines are proven safe and effective.

“The protection of the vaccines will give us comfort as parents to protect our kids so that they can go back to school, they can go back to play outside, and they can go back to join their families going out,” he said.

A reformulated dose of Pfizer vaccine that has a lower dosage and lower concentration than those given to other age groups is being used for the inoculation. This is the only shot that has received emergency use approval for kids aged 5 to 11 years from the Philippines’ Food and Drug Administration.

Also, Dizon underscored that the vaccination roll out for the pediatric population under the said age group is also a way of easing the reopening of face-to-face classes, and having the children to live normally.

“People have really suffered so much because imagine, it’s been two years already and they cannot go out… We have reached the point that finally, we will be able to give protection to our kids. It is really frightening for parents especially that in the recent Omicron surge, it is the children who are getting hospitalized,” he added.

The official in turn urged the parents to convince other parents or guardians to get their kids vaccinated so that they can go to school, and enjoy the life that they deserve.

Meanwhile, JBLMGH Medical Center Chief Dr. Monserrat Chichioco highlighted that the vaccination drive against COVID-19 will guarantee the protection of children given that they are vulnerable to getting the disease.

“We are expecting that through this kind of program from the government, we will be able to protect all of our population from 5 years old and above. For tomorrow we will have the National Vaccination Days for all age groups 5 years old and above. This is our campaign so that the Filipinos will achieve herd immunity and we will go back to normal,” she stated.

The regional hospital is eyeing to vaccinate about 200 children for the launch, but it is also accepting walk-ins on the vaccination site.