Close to 30 million Filipino children are still unprotected and unvaccinated for COVID-19.
The low uptake on pediatric COVID vaccine has prompted the Vaccine Solidarity Movement and health experts to call for a National Vaccination Day for Kids to protect them against the dreaded virus.
About 27 million Filipino children, aged 0-11 years old, still need to undergo pediatric vaccination, according to Philippine Medical Association President Dr. Benny Atienza.
He said that in order for the National Vaccination Day to be successful, there should be active participation of parents and schools.
In a recently held online Kapihan ng Samahang Plaridel, health experts emphasized there is no need for the public to panic as vaccination, current health protocols, as well as the right medical information remain the best defense against COVID-19 and its present and future variants.
The VSM is a platform for public health experts and the private sector that provides informed decisions to policymakers and helps drive public immunization to counter the pandemic.
“Local Government Units and our schools to help organize and participate in disseminating the importance of COVID-19 vaccination for our children,” Atienza said.
Dr. Lulu Bravo, Executive Director of the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination (PFV), said the “most vulnerable among us are the children who are not yet vaccinated.”
“Get them vaccinated,” Bravo said.
Enrique Gonzalez, founder and chairman of IP Biotech and the Family Vaccine and Specialty Clinics (FVSC), also gave the global numbers that supported the importance of pediatric vaccination.
“Large data sets from other countries clearly show these vaccines protect children as well,” Gonzalez said.
“The root of hesitation in vaccine hesitancy is not in the data and studies, but in reports that focus on adverse events. Experts and public health leaders need to bring vaccine literacy to the forefront of their efforts – and this will eventually help parents become more comfortable in getting COVID-19 vaccines for their children,” he added.
Eric Teng, Chief Executive Officer of the Mother Spice Food Corp., weighed in on the importance of the private sector response to the specter of Omicron.
At present, more than 90 percent of the restaurant staff in Resto PH, the group of restaurant operators Teng represents, have been vaccinated as of the end of 2021.
“While we restaurant workers face all sorts of people all the time, we are not the ones who are in hospitals despite some infections. Clearly, vaccination has helped our staff in becoming immune to the virus,” he said.
