Pediatricians: Vaccinating more adults will help protect kids vs COVID-19
MANILA, Philippines — Pediatric experts on Thursday said COVID-19 vaccination should still be focused on the elderly and on adults, but efforts should be ramped up to extend protection to children.
Members of the Philippine Pediatric Society and the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society of the Philippines made the remarks citing the country's limited supply of the jabs five months since the start of its inoculation program.
It came amid growing concern that more children are contracting the disease, and as additional cases of the highly infectious Delta variant are detected.
"The priority is to vaccinate the older age groups who are more vulnerable and the people at high risk for acquiring infection," the groups said in a briefing, "as they in all likelihood are the primary sources of infection for children."
Experts added that vaccinations for children aged 12 and above should begin "once a sufficient percentage" of those in the older age groups complete their shots.
In that undertaking, they said priority must be for kids living in areas with high virus transmission, as well as those with comorbidities.
"What we need to do is to encourage the adults [and] ramp up coverage because in doing so the children will also be protected," said Dr. Fatima Gimenez, who heads the immunization committee of the PPS.
Latest government figures showed there are now 12.02 million Filipinos fully vaccinated for COVID-19. That number is out of the target of up to 70 million this year.
Some 14.10 million, meanwhile, have received their initial shot.
In the same briefing, Dr. Mary Ann Bunyi said children younger than 18 account for between 12% to 14% of confirmed infections in the United States.
But at home, she lamented there is no national data "reflective of the true incidence of COVID-19 in Filipino children."
Citing data from eight state-run hospitals, she said more children aged five and below have been hospitalized for COVID-19 in the last seven months.
These institutions, whom she said she secured permission to share the data, were:
- East Avenue Medical Center
- National Children's Hospital
- Philippine Children's Medical Center
- Philippine General Hospital
- Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital and Sanitorium
- Dr. Jose R. Reyes Medical Center
- San Lazaro Hospital
- Zamboanga City Medical Center
Bunyi noted that infants had the highest number of COVID-19 cases particularly in the PGH, NCH, and PCMC.
She added over 20% of the children hospitalized for COVID-19 had underlying medical conditions.
The Department of Health earlier this week bucked proposals to open inoculations to minors, also citing limited jab supply.
Local regulators have so far cleared a single vaccine brand for those 12 and below: Pfizer's, which the country is still awaiting delivery of more doses.
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