Medical and health experts are optimistic the country may enjoy a healthier, safer Christmas this year as the government expands its inoculation drive against COVID-19 to include pediatric vaccination and booster shots.
The Philippine Medical Association’s (PMA) campaign, themed “Masaya ang Pasko ng Bakunadong Pamilyang Pilipino," is in line with the government's drive to get 15 million more Filipinos inoculated with its National Vaccination Days campaign – the first round held from Nov. 29 to Dec. 3 and the second on Dec. 15 to 17.
PMA President Dr. Benny Atienza urged families to have their children vaccinated against COVID-19.
“We encourage parents, barangays, and LGUs to join us in our National Vaccination Days. Public and private entities are working as one to disseminate benefits of vaccination,” Atienza said.
Vaccine hesitancy, Atienza said, can be overcome by continuous dissemination of correct medical information to all demographics, young and old.
“The PMA believes in teaching empowerment. We will continue implementing innovative activities that will raise standard health education among young children and their respective communities,” he added.
Dr. Lulu Bravo, Executive Director of the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination (PFV), said teaching children about vaccination at an early age “can lead us to the end of this pandemic.”
She called on adult members of society, especially the parents, to “be a hero, by saving your lives and your loved ones through vaccination.”
Although perceived as “more low risk” that other age groups, children still “can get very sick with COVID-19, said Dr. Nina Gloriani, Chairperson of the Vaccine Expert Panel Technical Working Group for COVID-19 Vaccines.
“We have to underscore the fact that unvaccinated children can be asymptomatic,” she said.
Dr. Eric Tayag, Director of the National Epidemiology Center of the Department of Health, said the vaccination of children should be ongoing, not just against COVID-19 but also for other “preventable diseases.”
“We are having catch-up vaccinations on measles, diphtheria, and hemophilia. We protect the children when we vaccinate them,” he said.
Enrique Gonzalez, Founder and Chairman of IPB/Family Vaccines Specialty Clinics (FVSC), said “ensuring the safety of vaccines to children is of prime importance.”
He said SinoVac, the vaccine his company distributes, is doing a global trial on pediatric COVID-19 vaccination in several countries, and countries and territories such as Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Chile have been using SinoVac under an Emergency Use Agreement to “quickly ensure that kids are protected when they go back to school.”
“It is critical to helping the country recover and get back on its feet. Vaccines prevent severe symptoms and hospitalization. It is important that the public continue to have access to vaccines so we can achieve and maintain herd immunity,” Gonzalez said.
Prior to the pandemic, FVSC has been at the forefront of inoculation against infectious diseases to the marginalized, subsidizing 50,000 vaccinations for the rural poor across more than 18 provinces.