THE GOVERNMENT is considering vaccinating children aged 5 to 11 against Covid19 by the second or third week of January, vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said.

Galvez said the government has secured 15 million doses of Pfizer vaccine that will be delivered in tranches until March.

“We ordered already, October 5. But the first delivery of the Pfizer vaccines intended for 5 to 11, as we have negotiated, will be in January,” he said.

He explained that the Pfizer vaccine for kids will be of lower dosage and concentration than those given to adults.

“We also asked COVAX and UNICEF if they can spare additional vaccines specifically for the said age group to be donated to the Philippines,” the official said.

Last week, the Philippine Food and Drug Administration allowed the use of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid19 vaccine to kids below 11 years old.

FDA Director-General Eric Domingo said that the vaccine has an efficacy rate of 90 percent.