MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) is targeting the vaccination for measles of 11 million children in May.
DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said children below two years old would be given priority.
“We will be on the lookout for these children (0 to 23 months old) since this is a critical period, ” Vergeire said.
She said the supplemental immunization activity aims to check on unvaccinated children in the past few years.
“A measles outbreak in the country is still possible because as we have said, for two years, there was a gap in vaccinating children for measles,” Vergeire said.
The DOH had earlier said all regions in the country are at high risk for the outbreak of measles due to low vaccination coverage and detection of cases nationwide.
The DOH Epidemiology Bureau recorded an increase in measles cases by 531 percent from Jan. 1 to March 4 this year compared to the same period last year.