780,000 Pfizer vaccine doses for minors arrive

A total of 780,000 doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for minors aged 5 to 11 have arrived in the Philippines.

The Philippines has received a total of 1,560,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine for this age group, with the latest batch arriving on Wednesday, February 16, 2022.

The pilot rollout of COVID-19 vaccination for children aged 5 to 11 started in the National Capital Region on February 7.

As of February 9, the country has administered a total of 128,700,168 COVID-19 vaccine doses nationwide.

Of these doses, 60,674,767 were first doses, 60,013,407 individuals were fully vaccinated, and 8,011,994 were booster shots.

As of February 15, 148,615 Filipino minors aged 5 to 11 have been vaccinated against COVID-19, with only eight experiencing mild reactions.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire assured that the DOH will expand the vaccination program for this age group, and the process is not mandatory and requires parental or guardian consent.

In addition, 9.3 million individuals in the 12 to 17 age group have already been vaccinated.