FILIPINO PEOPLE VS. COVID-19

                On Monday, February 7, as the Philippines entered its third year of fighting the coronavirus pandemic, the government began immunizing children aged 5 to 11 against the fatal virus. Due to "logistical obstacles," the immunization was moved back from its original date of Friday, February 4, to Saturday, February 5. The first 780,000 doses of the vaccine produced by Pfizer-BioNTech arrived on Friday night only.

 

               The Pfizer vaccine is being used since it is the only one that has gained emergency use approval from the Philippines' Food and Drug Administration for children aged 5 to 11. They are given a lesser dose and concentration of the Pfizer vaccination than children aged 12 to 17. In October 2021, the country began immunizing 12- to 17-year-olds. The vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 began at the Philippine Heart Center, Philippine Children's Medical Center, National Children's Hospital, Manila Zoo, SM North Edsa (Skydome), and the Fil Oil Gym in San Juan City, all in Metro Manila. On Tuesday, February 8, the immunization will be extended to Central Luzon and Calabarzon. Myrna Cabotaje, the Philippines' National Vaccine Operation Center's undersecretary, said the government wants to vaccinate 15.5 million children aged 5 to 11 in the country.

               According to the Department of Health, children aged 0 to 11 made up 69.2 percent of COVID-19 cases recorded in the pediatric group (those aged 17 and under) in January 2022. "During the Omicron wave, the proportion of children aged 0 to 11 years old in total pediatric cases is higher than during the Delta wave. In September, patients in the 0-11 age group accounted for 56 percent of all pediatric cases, rising to 69.2 percent in January, according to the DOH. Infections increased throughout all age categories as a result of the recent surge in cases caused by the highly transmissible Omicron strain, with the highest increases among 18- to 59-year-olds, followed by children under the age of 5, and then 5- to 11-year-olds.

 

               Though the number of cases has decreased in recent days, daily infections are still greater than they were before the Omicron outbreak. The Philippines is currently classified as a "moderate risk" country. On January 10, the country was designated as "critical risk" due to an increase in COVID-19 cases. On January 15, it had the largest number of COVID-19 cases in a single day, with 39,004.

 

References:

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019