By NewsDesk  @bactiman63

Philippines health officials reported an additional 633 cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant across the country today.

COVID-19
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

A total of 748 samples were collected, of which more than 84 percent were the Delta variant. Three or 0.40 percent were Alpha variant cases, and six or 0.80 percent were Beta variant cases.

On Monday, 6,943 new infections were reported, including 86 new deaths. This brings the cumulative total to 2,727,286 cases and 40,761 deaths since the start of the pandemic last year.

Concerning vaccinations, health authorities rolled out a pilot run of pediatric vaccination of 12 to 17 year old children with comorbidities.

The Philippines DOH said that, as part of the wider coverage of the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out in the country, children in this age group with comorbidities are scheduled to receive the vaccines with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), namely, Pfizer and Moderna. The initial run of the vaccination will also be conducted in hospitals where children will be screened and monitored by doctors, and facilitating referrals will be easier in case of serious adverse events following immunization.

The DOH estimates that there are around 1.2 million children with comorbidities from ages 12 to 17 in the country. Children with following comorbidities are eligible for vaccination:  1) medical complexity (i.e. those with long term dependence on technical support); 2) genetic conditions; 3) neurologic conditions; 4) metabolic/endocrine diseases; 5) cardiovascular diseases; 6) obesity; 7) HIV infection; 8) tuberculosis; 9) chronic respiratory diseases; 10) renal disorders; 11) hepatobiliary diseases; and 12) immunocompromised due to disease or treatment.