MANDALUYONG CITY -- Philippine Red Cross (PRC) Chairman and CEO Sen. Dick Gordon says that the country's foremost humanitarian organization will start vaccinating children aged 5 to 11 years old against COVID-19.

Sen. Gordon explained that the Department of Health has provided the PRC Logistics & Multipurpose Center (PLMC) with 3,000 doses of reformulated Pfizer for children in the said age bracket. For PRC’s first day of the 5-to-11 years of age group vaccination, 50 children will be given their shots. PRC targets to provide 1,500 children with the Pfizer vaccine.

PRC will also be giving 1st doses of the vaccine to 650 children in its four (4) Bakuna Centers in Zamboanga, Pangasinan CB Mall, and Tarlac City Walk Mall)

“Napakaimportante na hindi natin mapabayaan ang ating mga kabataan edad 5 hanggang 11 years old ngayong mayroon pa rin pandemic. Kahit na bumababa na ang kaso sa ating bansa, kung walang bakuna ang mga bata, napakedlikado neto. Children who will be infected with COVID will get very sick from it and have both short and long-term health complications."

Gordon also added that PRC continues to deploy its fleet of Bakuna Buses and operate its Bakuna Centers to help the national government as it ramps up the vaccination efforts to protect unvaccinated individuals especially the most vulnerable.

Since March 2021, when PRC started its vaccination program, the humanitarian organization has already administered 1,020,230 doses of COVID-19 vaccines through the 17 Bakuna Buses, 26 Bakuna centers, and Bakuna teams to help the different local government units to hasten the vaccination efforts and protect the people from the virus. (Philippine Red Cross)