Four hospitals in Davao City have committed to the city government of Davao’s vaccination rollout for 12-17-year-old children with comorbidities (pediatric) tentatively scheduled on October 29, 2021.
Dr. Michelle Schlosser, spokesperson of the Davao City Covid-19 Task Force, announced on Wednesday that Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC), Davao Doctors Hospital (DDH), Metro Davao Medical and Research Center (MDMRC), and the Seamen’s Hospital in R. Castillo committed to do the vaccination for minors age 12 to 17 years old.
“We are looking into doing the vaccination sa atoang mga bata diri with comorbidities and they are still part of the A3 pediatric individuals with comorbidities. Ang atoang committed hospitals to do this are SPMC, DDH, and MDMRC. We still have pending decisions from other private hospitals,” she said.
Schlosser added that the master listing will be done by the city’s vaccination cluster and that vaccination of the minors is dependent on the availability of Pfizer and Moderna anti-Covid-19 vaccines.
Moderna and Pfizer have an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the A3 pediatric population: adolescents aged 12 to 17. Children under A3 are those with underlying medical comorbidities and at risk of severe COVID-19. These are children identified with medical complexities, genetic conditions, neurologic conditions, metabolic or endocrine diseases, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, HIV, or tuberculosis.
Schlosser also advised the vaccinees to bring consent forms of the parents and medical clearance from the physician/pediatrician as requirements.
“Uba’y uba’y na ang mga ginikanan na gusto ani (vaccination) because dili lang man gud kung protektado ta pero ang uban kapamilya dili protected, dili gyud ta makampanti,” she said.
Schlosser also said after the rollout in the hospitals the vaccination will cascade this to the students and the master listing will be done by the schools.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health 11 (DOH 11) announced that other hospitals throughout the region that will roll out the vaccines are: Davao del Sur Provincial Hospital, Davao Regional Medical Center, Davao De Oro Provincial Hospital, and Davao Oriental Provincial Medical Center.
Dr. Annabelle Yumang, regional director of DOH 11, said parents worry less when their kids are vaccinated. She said DOH now includes the pediatric population in the vaccination campaign because some of them are still at risk of Covid-19 complications.
Parents seeking to get their kids vaccinated need to first secure a vaccination schedule with their hospital. Upon confirmation, they need to bring the following on the day of vaccination: a medical certificate detailing the child’s comorbidity, valid IDs of both the child and the parent or guardian, and any proof of filiation like the birth certificate.
The vaccine recipient must also be accompanied by the parent or guardian at the vaccination site.
