Life-saving immunization must continue amid COVID-19 crisis — vaccine expert
MANILA, Philippines — Essential immunization services must not be neglected even as the country battles the new coronavirus pandemic that is threatening the lives of millions of Filipinos, a vaccine expert said Wednesday.
Dr. Lulu Bravo, Philippine Foundation for Vaccination executive director, said the movement restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the virus has reduced the transmission of measles and respiratory diseases such as influenza.
“The enhanced community quarantine not only reduced the predicted number of COVID-19 but other diseases that are transmitted through airdrop that we call the respiratory diseases,” Bravo said in a virtual forum.
But she stressed that life-saving health interventions such as vaccination should be safeguarded for continuity during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Key recommendations during this time is really to continue giving vaccination to our children whether it is the pentavalent, the polio, the measles for kids, and of course, flu [vaccine] for people who are at most risk of getting pneumonia and influenza,” Bravo said.
“Although we do have COVID-19, it’s not just the disease that can wreak havoc to our children because there’s still measles… Measles is an airborne disease. Even if you do physical distancing, you can’t avoid it because it’s gonna be brought by air to anyone who is vulnerable so we need to have vaccinated,” she added.
Childhood immunization coverage in the country has been decreasing “sharply” from 87% in 2014 to 68% in 2019, exposing Filipino children to vaccine-preventable illnesses such as measles and polio.
Nearly two decades after it was eradicated in the Philippines, polio re-emerged in September last year. The resurgence of the disease came after the country was hit by measles and dengue outbreaks early in 2019.
At least two million Filipino children could miss out on immunization against vaccine-preventable disease due to the COVID-19 crisis, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund.
Bravo also said that influenza vaccination of health workers, older adults and pregnant women is advised. In the Philippines, over 5,000 people die of influenza-related causes annually.
The new coronavirus has already infected 9,684 people in the Philippines. Of the figure, 1,408 have recovered, while 637 have succumbed to the disease.
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