President Surangel Whipps Jr.said Palau is monitoring the progress of vaccination for under 12 years old as the nation continues will the rollout of vaccination.
Reports say that The makers of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will soon seek clearance to use it in children 5 and older, and are getting ready to make smaller doses of the vaccine for younger than five years old.
According to New York Times, Ozlem Tureci, the co-founder of BioNTech and its chief medical officer was quoted as saying, “we will be presenting the results from our study on 5-to-11-year-olds to authorities around the world in the coming weeks.
It was also announced on Tuesday that Pfizer-BioNTech submitted data to the Food and Drug Administration to clear its Covid-19 vaccine for use in children ages 5 to 11.
If FDA gives the go signal, reports said vaccinating children will hopefully begin by the end of October in the US.
Gaafar Uherbalau, Ministry of Health’s Emergency Operation Center’s (EOC) Deputy Incident Commander said meanwhile in Palau, the third dose vaccination continues for the Immune-compromised and waiting for guidance for the third dose of boosters shots for individuals.
Palau started to vaccinate children between ages 12 to 17 in May. As of Sept 30, 2021, 1,247 adolescents have been fully vaccinated and 16,082 adults fully vaccinated and 473 adults or individuals that are immunocompromised have received their third dose jabs.
Whipps in the press conference said, sooner or later, people have to learn to live with the coronavirus.
“One thing we need to understand, this is the new normal, and we have said it many times, Covid is here to stay and we need to adjust our thinking on what COVID is and how we deal with it, “ Whipps said,
While there is always the COVID risk to Palau, he lauded the work of the EOC and the Ministry of Health in mitigating the risk of the virus entering the country’s shore.
“They have done a great job in protecting the borders. I know they are overworked, but they are still going and doing it and we need to thank them for that dedication, “the president stressed.