THE DEPARTMENT of Education office in Antique will not require children to get jabs against Covid19 but it encouraged parents to have their kids vaccinated.

Antique has 11, 675 kindergarten students and 76,970 primary school students.

“The DepEd Antique cannot require school kids to have their Covid-19 vaccination, but we can strongly recommend it,” Antique Schools Division Superintendent Felisa Beriong said.

The government aims to start inoculating children aged 5 to 11 on February 4 in Metro Manila.

Beriong said that as part of their preparations, schools have communicated with the Parent Teachers Associations.

Children in the said age group will receive the Pfizer vaccine.

Meanwhile, the chief for School Governance and Administration in Antique said that 6,072 children aged 12 to 17 have been vaccinated in the province.

“There are 1,455 who had their first dose and 4,617 who had their second dose,” she said.