At least 3,879 children aged five to 11 years old have been inoculated with their first doses of the reformulated Pfizer vaccine as of February 25, 2022.
Davao City COVID-19 Task Force Spokesperson Dr. Michelle Schlosser, during the COVID-19 Alert program of the 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio (DCDR) aired on Wednesday, March 2, 2022, said they expect a higher turnout once all the other district sites will be opened.
The City Government of Davao recently opened its special vaccination sites for the five to 11 years old vaccinees including the Almendras Gym, the Vicente Hizon Elementary School, and the San Roque Elementary School.
Dr. Schlosser said district vaccination hubs were also put up at SM City Davao along Quimpo Boulevard, Gaisano Mall Toril, the F. Dizon Elementary School, and the Holy Cross College of Calinan.
“Supposedly, we will be opening nine district sites, pero ang atong gi-open upat palang kay nadelay ang pagdeliver sa atong logistics, sa vaccines. Hopefully, sa third tranche maging enough na sya para ma-open ang ubang sites (Supposedly, we will be opening nine district sites but we initially opened four sites since there was a delay in the delivery of our logistics, the vaccines. Hopefully, there will be enough vaccines in the third tranche so we can open the other district sites),” she said.
While the pediatric rollout for the youngest age group population in partner hospitals was already over, the city health official said the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) wanted to extend their rollout for five to 11 years old.
She said SPMC’s initiative is a very welcome support to the city’s COVID-19 pediatric vaccination program, wherein the city eyes to inoculate some 260,000 children in the five to 11 age bracket.
Dr. Schlosser also debunked “fake news” about deaths among pediatric vaccinees.
“Naa daw mga namatay na mga bata pero as of today, the data of the City Health Office and Department of Health, wala po tayong deaths sa pediatric vaccination whether for five to 11 or 12 to 17. Naa lang minor adverse events just like in any routine vaccines. Zero death talaga tayo (Fake news claims that there were deaths among the children vaccinees but as of today, the data of the City Health Office and the Department of Health shows that we have no recorded deaths in the pediatric vaccination whether for five to 11 or 12 to 17. There were only minor adverse events just like in any routine vaccine. We have zero deaths),” she added.CIO