MANILA -- Pediatric vaccination of children ages 12 to 17 years old will begin with children with comorbidities, according to the Department of Health (DOH) and the Palace advised everyone to wait for the guidelines on this to be released.

Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque Jr. said children with comorbidities will belong to Priority Group A3, and their vaccination would require informed consent from parents or guardians and the vaccinee.

"Kailangan ding masiguro na may equitable access sa medical clearance ng doktor ang mga bata na merong comorbidities," said Secretary Roque in a press briefing on September 30, 2021.

The Palace official also said that the government will make sure of the availability and supply of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which were given the Emergency Use Authorization by the Philippines' Food and Drug Administration for use in children ages 12 to 17 years old.

The pediatric vaccination and the vaccination of the general population, which are set to begin in October, are expected to increase even more the number of Filipinos getting jabbed with a COVID-19 vaccine.

As of the September 29, 2021 data from the National COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard, a total of 45,147,577 vaccine doses have been administered nationwide, while there are now 21,103,317 who are fully vaccinated.

For Metro Manila, 15,634,542 vaccine doses have already been administered, and there are now 7,208,552 fully vaccinated individuals or 73.73 percent as of September 29, 2021.

Meanwhile, Roque mentioned of the arrival today, September 30, of 1,233,300 doses of the Moderna vaccine that were procured by the national government and the private sector, and the delivery last night, September 29, of 391,950 doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

"At sa unang araw ng Oktubre, may inaasahan tayong darating na 883,350 doses ng Pfizer mula COVAX at dalawa't kalahating milyon (2.5-M) doses naman po ng Sinovac," said Roque.

On another matter, National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said economic growth is beginning to recover with a positive 11.8 percent growth in the second quarter of 2021.

Sec. Chua also reported progress on other sectors of the economy including an increase in the index for manufacturing production at 94 percent, and a positive 24 percent import growth in July 2021.

Chua added that in terms of unemployment, the Philippines was able to slow it down to as low as 6.9 percent in July but went up again to 8.1 percent in August when the Enhanced Community Quarantine was implemented. While for underemployment, it increased to 20.9 percent in July triggered by weather disturbance in agriculture, but went down to 14.7 percent in August when economic activities normalized, said Chua.

In terms of job creation, Chua said it depends on the degree of restrictiveness of quarantine classifications. He added that in terms of net employment creation since January 2020 up to August 2021, some 1.7 million jobs were restored to the economy. (OPS)

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