Philippines vaccinates 6.5 million minors vs COVID-19

The Philippines has vaccinated at least 6.5 million children aged 12 to 17 against COVID-19, government said on Thursday. 

This represents about 32 percent of the age group, which started receiving coronavirus jabs in mid-October, said vaccine "czar" Carlito Galvez Jr. 

"Tuwang-tuwa po kami dahil, kasi talagang maganda na po, magpi-face-to-face na po ating mga estudyante… Ang ating mga anak ay makakawala na rin sa ating bahay," he said at a vaccine awarding ceremony. 

(We are glad because this is good, our students can now join face-to-face classes. Our children can now go out of our homes.) 
 
The Philippines in November started testing limited in-person classes in some 100 schools in lower-risk areas. On Monday, 28 more schools in Metro Manila joined the trial of face-to-face classes. 

• Duterte says ‘glad’ prudence exercised in reopening Metro Manila schools

In total, the Philippines has vaccinated at least 39.5 million of its 77.1 million target population, and has started giving booster jabs to some groups. 

• Philippines: COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker
• Duterte: 'Let's work harder to reach every unvaccinated Filipino'

Daily infections have fallen sharply to below 1,000 since Nov. 24, from a peak of over 20,000 in September, paving the way for a wider economic reopening.

The Philippines last week held a 3-day mass vaccination drive to boost its vaccine roll out, which has been slower than many neighbors. 

It has yet to detect any case of omicron, which the World Health Organization classified as a COVID-19 "variant of concern."

• Omicron no worse than other variants: top scientists
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— With a report from Reuters