THE Department of Health (DOH) announced on Tuesday children ages 6 to 17 can now receive the COVID-19 vaccine produced by Chinese biopharmaceutical firm Sinovac.
DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said the agency has approved CoronaVac as primary series for 6 to 17-year-olds as an alternative for mRNA vaccines.
This is based on the recommendation of the Health Technology Assessment Council, an independent advisory body of the DOH, she added.
“Ang mga tagubilin hinggil sa pag-apruba nito ay na-issue na natin kahapon through a department memorandum at maaari na po itong umpisahan ang implementasyon,” Vergeire said in a press briefing.
Sinovac’s vaccine uses an inactivated form of the virus to induce an antibody response against COVID-19.
Meanwhile, Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines use messenger RNA created in a laboratory to teach cells how to make spike protein, which triggers immune response.
In May, the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 6 to 11.
The state regulator earlier approved Pfizer’s coronavirus jab for emergency use of children 5 years old and above.
Latest DOH data showed some 15.2 million children and adolescents have so far been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Of the figure, almost 10 million are 12 to 17-year-olds, while around 5.2 million are children ages 5 to 11, the agency said.
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