Although vaccination against COVID-19 was started in children ages five to 11 only began this Monday, it appears that an 11-year-old girl had already been vaccinated in January. She found out when she returned to the vaccination center in Manila with her mother for the child’s second dose.
Cedric Castillo told GMA News “24 Oras” on Wednesday that the pediatric vaccination site in Manila coordinator was surprised to see the child’s vaccination card injected with the first dose on January 10, 2022.
It is stated that July 2010 is the child’s birthday, so she is only 11-years-old, who is entering the current vaccination rollout at the ages of five to 11.
But in January, 11-year-olds could not be vaccinated because only young people aged 12-17 were allowed, which started last October.
The coordinator at the pediatric vaccination site was reportedly surprised when the child’s mother said that the second dose would be given to her child.
The child’s mother allegedly refused to give an interview.
The Department of Health – National Capital Region (DOH-NCR) said they are investigating the incident.
11-year-old vaccinated before pediatric vaccination rollout
Dr. Nina Gloriani, vaccine expert panel chief, said the child still needs to be monitored for possible side effects of the vaccine.
However, if the child is large enough, he will be able to handle the vaccine dosage.
“The child will be monitored for possible side effects, but I do not foresee any problem. The dose is for an adult, and if the child is big enough… (she) should be able to handle that,” said Dr. Nina Gloriani, vaccine expert panel chief.
“Pfizer vaccine was studied across low, medium, and high dose de-escalation studies where they found similar immune response and efficacy between the ages 5 to 11 and 12 to 17, even compared to those above 18. But it is something that vaccinators should be very conscious of when administering the doses,” she added.
According to Dr. Anna Lisa Ong-Lim, a member of the DOH-Technical Advisory Group (TAG), the drug dosage given to the person to be vaccinated should be age-appropriate.
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