The Department of Health (DOH) kicks off today its month-long campaign targeting over 11 million children below five years old who have yet to be immunized with measles, rubella, and polio vaccines.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire urged the public to participate in the campaign, which will run until May 31, to ensure the protection of children against the vaccine-preventable diseases.
“One of the department’s evergreen goals is to protect our children from vaccine preventable diseases and those include measles, rubella, and polio,” said Vergeire in a statement.
“As a measure to provide them protection, we shall continue to prioritize vaccination through programs, such as Chikiting Ligtas 2023,” she added.
The DOH’s call was backed by pediatric infectious disease expert Dr. Anna Ong-Lim who underscored that vaccines are necessary to shield children from vaccine-preventable diseases.
These, she said, include diseases with equal threat as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), such as measles, influenza, polio, and pneumonia.
“During the pandemic, our immunization coverage decreased significantly,” she said during a media roundtable discussion held last Friday.
“The more unprotected children there are, the more there could be sources of transmission,” added Ong-Lim.
The DOH is eyeing 11,108,115 kids 0-59 months for oral polio vaccination (OPV), while 9,509,585 kids 9-59 months are being targeted for measles-rubella (MR) vaccines.
The DOH said vaccinators will do house-to-house immunization activities to better reach eligible children.
Similarly, the DOH said local health centers shall be open to provide routine vaccinations to the public.
