MANILA – Administration of Covid-19 booster shots to children aged five to 11 years old is still not recommended.
In a media briefing on Tuesday, Department of Health (DOH) officer-in-charge Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the country’s health experts studied the non-recommendation thoroughly based on scientific evidence.
“Kahit doon sa mga pag-aaral na nailabas na ng WHO [World Health Organization], even other credible institutions, sinasabi na walang value pa para makapagrekomenda tayo ng boosters sa ating mga kabataan (Even in the studies released by the WHO, even other credible institutions, it is said that there is still no value to recommend boosters for) 12 years old and below,” she said.
“What is important is they are fully vaccinated because this continues to protect them against Covid-19,” she added.
Last week, the administration of second booster shots for the general population or those who are healthy and aged 18 years old and below began but there is no consolidated accomplishment report yet.
“Siguro po (Maybe) towards the end of the week, we can get our weekly accomplishment for our second booster shots,” Vergeire said.
There would be no National Vaccination Days for the second boosters as the DOH has informed the public about it and regional offices of Centers for Health Development have already identified health centers as vaccination sites, she added.
As of March 20, more than 78.4 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated including 7.2 million senior citizens, 10.2 million adolescents, and 5.6 million children.
Meanwhile, about 23.8 million individuals have received their first booster shot and 4.4 million have received their second booster dose. (PNA)