A total of 9,784 children aged 5 to 11 years old have so far been vaccinated against Covid-19 on the first day of the Department of Health’s (DOH) “Resbakuna Kids” program Monday.

In a media briefing on Tuesday, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said these children were vaccinated across 32 vaccination sites and has since been expanded to vaccinate more from the age group.

“Ngayong araw, 43 sites na ang nagro-rollout ng pediatric vaccination kaya inaasahan po natin na mas marami pa po tayong mababakunahan sa mga susunod na araw (Today, there are 43 sites where we are rolling out pediatric vaccination and so we are expecting to inoculate more in the coming days),” Vergeire said.

Of all the children inoculated on Monday, she said only one child reported a “mild” or “non-serious” reaction following inoculation.

DOH Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje, in a Laging Handa briefing, said the 11-year-old boy was from Parañaque City. ‘

“Namantal iyong braso at mga kamay niya pagkatapos mabakunahan. Pero sa araw ding iyon ay nawala na ito, iyong tinatawag na nag-resolve iyong kaniyang rashes (He developed rashes on his arms and hands after receiving the vaccine. But the rashes were gone on the same day),” Cabotaje said.

Meantime, Vergeire noted that among the 9.2 million Filipino children aged 12 to 17 who have already been vaccinated, only 0.3 percent showed mild reactions with no recorded deaths caused by the vaccine.

Out of the 8.7 million children aged 5 to 11 that have been vaccinated globally, she said 97.5 percent did not show reactions to the vaccine, 2.4 percent had mild reactions, while only 0.00013 percent experienced myocarditis or pericarditis.

To date, she said the number of children aged 5 to 11 who have been registered for “Resbakuna Kids” has reached 500,000 within the four pilot regions of the program since Monday.

“Nais po namin magpasalamat dahil maliban sa proteksyon na hatid niyo sa inyong mga anak, karagdagan proteksyon din po ito para sa inyong kapamilya at komunidad (We are thankful because aside from protecting your children, this would also provide additional protection to your other family members and community),” Vergeire said.

The program aims to vaccinate a total of 15,564,305 children within the age bracket.

Originally set to start Friday last week, vaccination for the 5-11 pediatric population began Monday after it was delayed due to logistical challenges in the delivery of reformulated Pfizer vaccine for kids. (PNA)