CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga - The provincial government of Zambales will start the pediatric coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccination for children aged 5 to 11 on Tuesday. Dr. Noel Bueno, chief of the Zambales Provincial Health Office (PHO), said in a social media post on Monday that the official launch of the pediatric inoculation will be held at Balin Sambali Building Zone 6 in the capital town of Iba from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Bueno is encouraging parents and guardians to have their children be vaccinated as an added protection against the Covid-19 virus. He said parents should not be afraid as the vaccines are safe and effective. The PHO official said a total of 500 children will be accommodated during the launch. Children aged 5 to 11 will be inoculated with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the only brand that received emergency use approval from the Philippines' Food and Drug Administration for the age group. Meanwhile, Bueno said the PHO and the rural health units (RHUs) in the province are continuously conducting walk-in vaccination. As of February 13, a total of 352,206 residents in Zambales have been fully vaccinated while 29,535 are still waiting for their second dose. On the other hand, 33,628 have received their booster shots. Due to the declining number of Covid-19 cases, Zambales, together with the six other provinces in Central Luzon, is now under Alert Level 2 from February 16-28, this year. To date, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the province is 11,459 with 129 active cases. (PNA) }