Duterte approves Covid-19 vaccination to minors, general population in October

The Philippines will start vaccinating minors and the general population in October after President Rodrigo Duterte approved the recommendation of National Task Force Against Covid-19.

I a virtual press briefing on Tuesday, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that the President gave the go-signal after it was recommended by vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr, to ramp up the government’s fight against Covid-19.

“The good news is the President has approved the vaccination of the general population beginning October,” Roque said.

The government has so far prioritized the inoculation of medical front-liners, senior citizens, individuals with comorbidities, economic front-liners, and indigents.

Following Duterte’s latest directive, Roque advised parents of minors to participate in the master listing of their children for Covid-19 vaccination.

“We will also commence the vaccination of minors,” Roque said. “We expect to start their vaccination in October. That has also been approved by the President.”

In his Talk to the People delivered Monday night, Duterte expressed his intent to expand his administration’s vaccination drive to the general population, including children.

Galvez earlier proposed the vaccination of individuals belonging to the 12 to 17 age group, with minors with comorbidities and children of medical front-liners as among the priorities.

Galvez said the government can vaccinate around 12 million minors, given that the country will receive 20 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine by the first week of October.

In Iloilo City, Mayor Jerry Trenas previously announced that the local government is ready to vaccinated minors starting October, once it is approved by the Inter-agency Task Force. He urged parents to pre-register their kids as the City will open two vaccination sites intended for them.

As of Monday, a total of 44,361,285 Covid-19 vaccines have already been administered nationwide.

Around 23,777,705 individuals have received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, while 20,583,580 others have already been fully vaccinated. (By Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos, PNA)