Amid reports that children are susceptible to the Delta variant of COVID-19, a group of educators has backed the government’s plan to start COVID-19 vaccination for minors aged 12 to 17 by the end of September.
“We support starting the vaccination of children against COVID-19 as soon as possible, because we believe vaccination will be crucial in resuming face-to-face classes by next year,” Philippine Educators Alliance for Community Empowerment (PEACE) Party-list President Marie Paz T. Abante said.
Abante also urged the IATF, particularly the Department of Health, to conduct a campaign to educate parents about how children can be protected against COVID-19.
Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. recently said that the government was negotiating for at least 26 million vaccine doses for children aged up to 15.
So far, only Pfizer-BioNTech has been granted emergency use authorization for vaccines for 12- to 15-year-olds.
Abante, however, said that the government should ensure that the vaccination of adult priority groups reaches a “satisfactory number” before it starts inoculating children.
“Hindi rin naman maaari na magpakabulag tayo sa realidad. We are still only at a little over 10 percent of our population. The fair and logical thing to do is to vaccinate more of the adults,” said Abante.
“Kung bakunado ang magulang at iba pang nakatatanda, protektado ang bata,” she added.
Abante also urged the IATF, particularly the Department of Health, to conduct a campaign to educate parents about how children can be protected against COVID-19.
“Noong mga naunang lockdown kasi ang kaalaman pa ay may malakas na immunity ang mga bata kontra sa original strain ng virus. Kailangan mai-update na rin ang kaalaman ng mga magulang nang malaman nila ang dapat gawin para maprotektahan ang kanilang mga anak laban sa COVID-19,” she said.
