On the premise that outsmarting the virus requires the vaccination of students, Senator Sonny Angara on Thursday said it is time to start local studies on vaccination of minors io ensure their protection against Covid-19.
“In our basic education,they are 28 million. Those in the tertiary are 3.4 million. If combined, their total population would put them in the Top 50 countries. Bigger than Australia’s 25 million,” noted Angara.
Senator Win Gatchalian for his part hailed the government’s plans to include teenagers in the COVID-19 vaccination program, a move that the lawmaker says would boost the basic education sector’s return to normalcy and the safe reopening of schools.
Considering the government’s plans to inoculate the younger population, he said it is essential to study how other countries, including the United States, are rolling out the vaccines among children and teenagers.
Gatchalian added that local government units (LGUs) should start preparations for the inoculation of the younger population. He said that health workers all the way to the barangay level should be mobilized while schools should be tapped as partners, especially in spreading awareness about the safety of vaccines.
Angara said a roadmap in children’s vaccination “will guide the executive and the legislative branches in preparing the budget of DepEd for 2022.”
The senator said the local Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should take the cue from its counterparts in the United States and other countries and start studying the use of the available Covid-19 vaccines for children below 18.
“In so far as expanding the administration of vaccines to other age groups, we should always be ahead of the curve,” Angara said.
He said “Greenlighting” certain vaccines for school-age children will address the need of “the largest population group” to be protected from the coronavirus.
“There will be no return to normalcy, no herd immunity if they are not vaccinated,” Angara added.
He said the first step is authorizing certain vaccines for certain age groups. “That is the prudent thing to do. It complies with safety protocols.”
The Philippines, Angara said, can follow the lead of the United States when its FDA allowed one of its leading vaccine brands to be administered to 12 to 15-year-olds.
When the US rolled out its first jabs of the vaccine in December last year, it already covered individuals aged 16 to 85.
Closer to home, Singapore has also authorized the use of the same vaccine on 12 to 15-year-olds.
Under the Philippine setting, the administration of vaccines is only being done for individuals aged 18 and above.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said vaccinating approximately 15 million kids aged 12 to 17 would entail additional expenditure of about P20 billion. The finance chief added that P55 billion is needed to give booster shots next year to 85 million adults and teenagers.
While the inoculation program for kids could start as early this year, Dominguez said the decision is up to health authorities.
This year, P82.5 billion was allotted to procure and roll out 140 million doses to vaccinate 70 million adult Filipinos to be able to achieve herd immunity.