Quezon City ramps up vaccination drive

QUEZON CITY , Philippines  — Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte yesterday called on parents to take part in the city government’s immunization program to protect children from various diseases.

Belmonte said the city is ramping up its vaccination efforts to make sure that children receive their respective immunization shots despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

She assured that the city health department will follow strict health protocols to prevent COVID-19 transmission when conducting vaccination drives.

“Even if there is a pandemic, we should not allow our children to miss the necessary vaccines, especially since they are part of the vulnerable sector,” she said in Filipino.

“We make sure that our city health workers follow the minimum health protocols and take extra precautions when giving vaccines. We will not let our vulnerable sector and frontliners fall ill when doing our regular immunization drive,” she added.

City health department head Esperanza Arias said the city is facing various challenges in terms of immunizing children due to the pandemic.

From January to September 2020, the city has vaccinated only 20,705 children, only 38 percent of the 54,413 target.

Parents and guardians are requested to bring their children to the nearest health center to avail of the free vaccine, based on a schedule to prevent crowding.