OVER 11 million children aged five and below are being eyed for the coming simultaneous immunization drive against measles, rubella, and polio set from May 1 to 31 nationwide.
Data released by the Department of Health (DOH)-National Capital Region (NCR) showed 11,108,115 kids are being eyed for oral polio vaccination (OPV), with about 9,509,585 kids also targeted for measles-rubella (MR) vaccines.
In the National Capital Region alone, there are 1,188,449 kids being eyed for OPV, with 1,010,783 as targets for MR vaccines.
“Our objective is to have at least 95 percent of parents and caregivers have their children immunized regardless of their vaccination status,” DOH-NCR Medical Officer Dr. Hope Bautista said in a virtual press briefing yesterday.
“The activity shall be synchronized and completed within four weeks, including rapid convenience monitoring, mop ups for missed children, and follow-ups of deferred children and for refusals,” said Bautista.
She said the immunization drive will be held on multiple fronts, including house-to-house jabbing activities.
“It will be held in fixed posts like health centers, barangay health stations, private clinics, or out-patient departments of hospitals; in temporary posts or in strategic places that will be assigned by LGUs; and through house-to-house vaccination,” said Bautista.
She said the immunization campaign is necessary as millions of children were not vaccinated during the height of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
“The number of children who were not vaccinated or incompletely vaccinated increased and continues to increase because of the delays in vaccination brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said.
Without the supplemental immunization activity, she said the country faces the risk of disease outbreaks.
“We will face a difficult situation if these diseases cause outbreaks while the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing,” warned Bautista.
