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5-11 age group vaccination begins on Feb. 14 in NorMin: DOH-10

By Nef Luczon and Franck Dick Rosete

February 9, 2022, 8:01 pm

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY - The coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccination rollout in Northern Mindanao (Region 10) for children who are 5 to 11 years old will officially start on February 14.

In an online update Wednesday, Dr. Ellenieta Gamolo, Department of Health–10 (DOH-10) assistant director, said the vaccination rollout will start in hospitals and will eventually be conducted in the different local government unit (LGU)-managed vaccination sites.

She also confirmed that the launching of the February 14 vaccination in this city will be held at the SM Downtown Premier and the city government-managed JR Borja General Hospital.

On February 15, the pediatric vaccination rollout will also be launched at the Centrio Ayala Mall and the St. Augustine Metropolitan Cathedral grounds.

Gamolo said the Pfizer vaccines that will be used for the pediatric vaccination will arrive on February 12.

The DOH–10 will initially receive 57,000 doses that will be used for a week.

"Although it is the same brand, Pfizer, it has different formulations and different doses. We want to protect our children by not providing the incorrect vaccines," she said.

Gamolo said the 5 to 11 age group vaccination will not be a daily activity as they are not yet done with the vaccination for other categories and that they were also advised not to mix the vaccines for pediatric to other category groups.

"We were told not to mix the pedia(tric) and the older population because it will be hard for us if their vaccines will be interchanged. The vaccines for pedia are very specific," she said.

The DOH-10 has planned to conduct a two-day vaccination per week for the pediatric group in a week and is currently coordinating with the Department of Education to ask for the master list of enrolled students as they will also conduct vaccination in the classrooms to ensure separation from the older population.

"In the third to fourth week of February, we will also be doing vaccination right there in the classrooms,” Gamolo said.

Dr. Ted Yu Jr., the CHO medical officer, said the local government has pre-registered 10,187 kids aged five to 11 years old to the pediatric vaccination activity.

Yu said the city government has been continuously encouraging parents to register their children aged 5 to 11 for the upcoming pediatric vaccination.

Parents who would want to register their children, he said, can log on to: services.cagayandeoro.gov.ph:8087/vaccprereg and choose category E1.0 for children who do not have comorbidities and category E1.1 for children who have comorbidities.

Vaxxed teachers

Meanwhile, in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, teachers attending the upcoming in-person classes on February 14 are guaranteed to be vaccinated.

City Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Anna Zenaida Unte-Alonto said earlier that her administration sees the vaccination status of each educator to be appropriate in the current health crisis.

“I deem it a very proper and utmost procedure that all our teachers should be vaccinated. If they are not vaccinated, they will always have to undergo reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction or antigen tests,” she said.

Alonto said the vaccination rate of the schools in the city was one of the qualifications in choosing the top three priority schools for the face-to-face learning modality that included the Mapandi Elementary School, Nanapun Elementary School, and Angoyao Central Elementary School.

She said of the 1,270 school teachers in Marawi City, only 80 have not been vaccinated. (PNA)

 

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