Davao City kid vaccination postponed

The schedule for the pediatric vaccination was earlier set on Monday, February 7 however, according to Schlosser this will be moved.

The Department of Health (DOH), in an advisory on Thursday (Feb. 3) attributed logistical challenges as the cause of the delay.

She said the postponement of the National Capital Region's pediatric vaccination rollout earlier set on February 4 will also affect the city and other local government units (LGUs).

“There's a domino effect. If they don't have allocated vaccines as they have not arrived yet, the regions and LGUs will also be affected,” Schlosser said.

She said the delay would somehow give sufficient time for the Vaccination Cluster Team to prepare for themselves for the pediatric vaccination.

She added that the pilot pediatric vaccination rollout for five to 11 years old will begin in hospitals. Whatever effective ways and practices that will come out from the launch will be continued while those ineffective will be enhanced and modified.

The Davao Doctors Hospital, San Pedro Hospital, and Brokenshire Hospital are among the hospitals in the city to pilot the pediatric vaccination. 

Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) might not be able to participate in the vaccination as it is currently overwhelmed with the surge of COVID-19 patients who are fully utilizing its ward beds, ICU beds, and isolation beds, she said.

A 0.2 ml dose of the anti-COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine was formulated for the five to 11 years old pediatric population, lower than the 0.3ml that the general population has received. 

Only Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine has been given emergency use authorization for kids aged five to 11 as of today.

Parents of children with comorbidities are encouraged to get a templated medical certificate from the city's operational vaccination hubs and have them filled up by their pediatricians before bringing their kids to the designated sites for inoculation.

The Department of Health (DOH) 11 in a virtual press conference on Friday (Feb 4) said that inoculation for children aged 5 to 11 in the Davao region is scheduled to start on February 14.

DOH is targeting 790,236 children age group 5 to 11 to be inoculated in the region.