SENATOR Aquilino ‘Koko’ Pimentel III on Monday said that child vaccination should not be mandatory.

Pimentel said that Covid19 vaccines are still considered experimental or under emergency use authorization.

Because of this, Pimentel said inoculating people, particularly children, without their parents’ consent should not be made mandatory.

Pimentel issued the statement a month after the Department of Health issued a memorandum urging the government to make a decision in cases when parents refuse to give their consent.

The senator said that based on data released by the government, there is no need to panic because vaccines have been proven to be effective.

Pimentel said the country’s Covid19 mortality rate is very low.

The country started giving jabs to children aged 5 to 11 on Monday.