By Deighton Acuin

PHOTO: Dallas Morning News

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should start studying the inclusion of Filipino minors in the COVID-19 vaccination program, Senator Sonny Angara said.

“This is a signal for us to commence our own independent studies on the matter,” Angara said, adding the government must be “ahead of the curve” in expanding vaccination eligibility to other age groups.

He made the remark after countries like Singapore and the United States have begun the inoculation for younger people 12-15 years of age.

It is a “prudent thing to do” to deploy vaccines to certain age groups, according to him.

“Yung nasa basic education natin, mga 28 million sila. 'Yung nasa tertiary, mga 3.4 million. If combined, their total population would put them in the top 50 countries, bigger than Australia’s 25 million,” Angara said, stressing the vaccination among children will protect them against infectious disease.

The lawmaker further said vaccinating young people is a “game-changer” for the country’s recovery.

“Outsmarting the virus requires the vaccination of students. There will be no return to normalcy, no herd immunity if they are not vaccinated. If they are last to be vaccinated, then we are creating a lost generation from the left-behinds,” he added.

The government is currently vaccinating Filipinos with 18 years old and above age eligibility.

To date, the Department of Health reported 1,165,155 total coronavirus infections including 51,192 active cases, 1,093,602 recoveries, and 19,641 deaths.

According to the data from National Task Force against COVID-19, 3,299,470 individuals have already been inoculated against the infectious disease.


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