BY CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
The Bacolod City government will roll out the vaccination of minors with comorbidities on November 5 at the Dr. Pablo O. Torre Memorial Hospital (Riverside Medical Center) in Bacolod City.
Em Ang, Emergency Operations Center-Task Force (EOC-TF) executive director, however, said the official launching scheduled by the Department of Health (DOH) region-wide, will be on Friday.
Ang said they are targeting the first 100 of pediatric A3 priority group, or persons aged 12 to 17 years old who have comorbidities.
These minors will be initially administered Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines. The city has sufficient supply of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, she said.
Ang said the total number of minors, aged 12 to 17 years old, who are registered as of Monday are about 4,783. Out of the 4,783 about 573 have comorbidities.
Based on the directive of the DOH, the pediatric A3 vaccination will focus on minors whose comorbidities – including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), cancer, and tuberculosis, among others, as well as those who have Down syndrome.
Ang said the launching will be held at the Riverside Medical center but they will be also identifying other hospitals which are not congested because they do not want to expose the children.
They are highly recommending that minors should be registered before going to the vaccination sites. Those who have not registered or have difficulty registering will be assisted by the vaccination team at the site, she said.
The EOC-TF advised parents of minors under the pediatric A3 group to register their children through the link: https://tinyurl.com/bcdceirminors.
Ang said the minor and guardian accompanying them have to bring their identification cards and proof of affiliation.*
