One of the four minors who experienced adverse events after COVID-19 vaccination Friday had a serious side effect, an officer of National Vaccination Operations Center said on Wednesday.

"So far we have one serious or severe AEFI ( adverse event following immunization) and the rest are mild. So as of now we have recorded four since we started last Friday," Kezia Rosario, National Vaccination Operations Center, told the ''Laging Handa'' virtual forum.

Rosario said the minor with a severe case experienced an allergic reaction following the vaccination.

"The severe case has an allergic reaction during vaccination. There is a symptom of allergic reaction," she said.

The vaccine injected into the person of minor age was not revealed.

"We immediately provided treatment and the rest were just experiencing stress because of vaccination so nothing serious happened in the three others," she added.

However, Rosario said the National Adverse Events Following Immunization Committee (NAEFIC) and the Regional Adverse Events Following Immunization Committee (RAEFIC) are still assessing to determine if the cases recorded are caused or related to the vaccination.

"There is an undergoing assessment which we called a causality assessment of those that was experienced by the minors after they had AFI," she said.

"Our NAEFIC and RAEFIC are looking at whether this is really related to vaccination. So currently, there is an ongoing assessment process to check the possible relationship," she added.

Rosario said based on their census the second phase of the vaccination for minors will be conducted in 23 hospitals and vaccination sites near the hospitals.

"Each of the local government units in the National Capital Region have already prepared their vaccination site using the hospital as a vaccination site. Due to limited spaces in the hospital, LGUs negotiated with us to use several of their nearby facilities as vaccination sites," she said. Robina Asido/DMS