A total of 130 minors, aged 12 to 17, received their first dose of Pfizer vaccine during the launch of the pediatric vaccination against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), held at the St. Paul’s Hospital Iloilo on Friday, Oct. 29.

During the short program before the ceremonial vaccination, Dr. Adriano Suba-an, Department of Health (DOH-6) director, said the event was another milestone in the vaccination campaign of Iloilo City.

“We prioritize those with co-morbidities because they are the vulnerable among (the) young population. We will also cover those without co-morbidity starting November 3,” Suba-an said.

He lauded Iloilo City for having the highest number of vaccinated individuals in the region.

Mayor Jerry P. Treñas, in his message, said the city government is eyeing to vaccinate 50,000 minors, and the figure may even increase as the local government will also accommodate those who are not necessarily residents of the metro but are enrolled in the schools in the city.

Treñas expressed appreciation to the national government and the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases for continuously providing the city with vaccines, the latest batch of which totaled 50,000 doses of Pfizer, which he said are enough to inoculate the target eligible minors.

From November 2 to 5, the local government will open to eligible minors its vaccination rollout in targeted jab sites.

“We will continue to vaccinate everyone so we will have protection and we will have a merry Christmas,” he said.

Treñas added that because the IATF is already talking of booster shots, by the time it would be allowed, the local government will have more than enough supply, as aside from those provided by the national government, the city has also purchased its own supply of AstraZeneca.

With the sufficient supply, the city has been able to share with interested local government units and hospitals.

“All hospitals, district health centers have vaccines. Our door-to-door, barangay, and mega-site vaccinations are also ongoing. We will continue to do that together with other protocols. Vaccination will help us lower the cases of Covid-19,” he said.

Treñas noted that based on the target of the Department of Health, 87 percent of the city’s eligible population of 335,172 who are 18 years and above are fully vaccinated while the rest have availed of their first dose.PNA