There’s a lot of sense in the fears raised by many social media influencers and netizens over the possibility of a disastrous effect of the lenient way minors are allowed to enter malls in Davao City starting last weekend. The fears are well grounded, they argue, because most of the children brought by their parents into the malls are unvaccinated. Many of the kids are also rambunctious and, yes, unruly at times.
Observant Dabawenyos fear that if the authorities will not move to adopt stricter restrictions this unrestrained “invasion” of kids in the malls might turn out into a super spreader of COVID-19 infection.
City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, a parent to minors herself, told Dabawenyos that authorities discussed the matter during the COVID-19 Task Force meeting last Monday, but no decision has been reached so far.
Mayor Inday said the local authorities are particularly worried about children aged 11 and below brought by parents to shopping malls.
We are reminded by the current experience of Israel, a country more advance than ours, which has began rolling out COVID-19 vaccination for kids aged 5 to 11 years last Monday after Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said their country was experiencing a “children’s wave” of the coronavirus pandemic. Yesterday’s newspapers reported that scientists and officials of Israel are now doubtful the country can reach herd immunity unless children are fully vaccinated. Earlier, the Prime Minister noted that about half of the recent confirmed COVID-19 cases were among children below the age of 11.
Israel’s experience is enough example for us, Dabawenyos, to learn from. Let’s focus on inoculating our minor children first before they are allowed to invade shopping centers and all other enclosed public places.
