‘TAKE OTHER JABS FIRST’: DOH-6 pushes measles, tetanus vax for kids while waiting for COVID guidelines

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

The Department of Health-Western Visayas Center for Health Development (DOH-WV CHD) on Monday encouraged school-age children to get vaccinated against measles, rubella, and tetanus diphtheria while awaiting guidelines for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) inoculation.

In an online press briefing, the DOH-WV CHD’s National Immunization Program coordinator and designated spokesperson, Dr. Daphynie Teorima, said there is no COVID vaccines allocated for children yet.

This, as the DOH central office is still finalizing guidelines for COVID vaccination for minors 12 to 17 years old.

Two authorized COVID-19 vaccines have already secured nods to be administered to children within this age range – Comirnaty of Pfizer-BioNTech and mRNA-1273 by Moderna.

The local governments of Iloilo City, Bacolod City, and Negros Occidental have started pre-registering minors for COVID vaccinations so they can receive them once the national government gives the green light for the vaccination.

While there are still no guidelines for COVID vaccination for kids, Teorima said the DOH and local governments should continue focusing on unvaccinated and partially vaccinated adults.

She added, however, that should COVID vaccinations for children start, the focus would be on children with co-morbidities, due to their higher risk of contracting the virus.

She refused to disclose which hospital in the region will conduct the pilot inoculations for children, saying that the DOH-WV CHD is also finalizing the list. Revealing the pilot hospitals might lead parents and children crowding these hospitals.

“We would like to emphasize that as of now, the first of the 12 to 17-year-olds are those with comorbidities, such as medical complexities, same with adults who have many illnesses (sic). Not all children will be given [COVID vaccines] immediately, we still have to finish all of our adults who have not been vaccinated yet,” Teorima said.

Teorima said children should be vaccinated against measles rubella and tetanus diphtheria, which are part of the National Immunization Program.

She said that this would be the first time that the DOH and local governments would be conducting community-based vaccinations against the two diseases because of the COVID-19 pandemic. These were previously conducted in schools.

“We have upcoming vaccinations for our school-age children. These are routine immunization for measles rubella and tetanus diphtheria. So, if they cannot be vaccinated for COVID, they could instead take routine vaccines first for those who are relatively immunocompetent or children with healthier immune systems,” she said.

The DOH-WV CHD is aiming to conduct these vaccinations between October to December, in coordination with the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID).

Teorima cited two main challenges to these routine immunizations: the change from school-based to community-based vaccinations, and the prioritization of vaccinators for COVID patient care and vaccinations.

“We are talking, discussing with our counterparts in the provinces and the municipalities on how we could carry this out as smoothly as possible because it’s the first time we’re conducting community-based [vaccinations]. Before, we were conducting school-based services. We’re still finalizing the conduct of our activities, however our target is within the 4th quarter of this year,” she explained.