Gatchalian: Prepare LGUs for Covid-19 vaccine rollout to minors

Senator Win Gatchalian wants the national government to begin preparing local government units (LGUs) for the vaccination of children following the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine for minors aged 12-17.

The senator has been lobbying for the vaccination of children in the age group, citing both the safety of the younger population and the long-term impact of school closures.

Gatchalina, chair of the Senate basic education committee, said that vaccinating school age children would lay down a clearer path on the gradual resumption of face-to-face classes.

“At this point, I can see that one of the solutions to open our schools safely is to already inoculate our teenagers,” he said.

With the government eyeing to vaccinate minors by September or October this year, preparations should already start at the level of LGUs, the lawmaker said.

He also cited the crucial involvement of the National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Department of Health (DOH), and the Department of Education (DepEd).

“My call is to allow LGUs and private schools to import their own vaccines and to inoculate their own teachers, their own school officials, as well as their own students and their own teenage population. This way, it will hasten the vaccine rollout in our schools and the LGUs,” Gatchalian said.

The FDA previously approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for the inoculation of minors aged 12-15. Drugmaker Sinovac also applied for the authorization of its Covid-19 vaccine for children and minors aged 3-17.

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Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)