For polio mass immunization: City lacks vaccines

CEBU, Philippines — After Mandaue City, Cebu City will now conduct a city-wide vaccination for polio but it will have to restock on vaccines as it does not have enough on hand.

"Ga-inventory ta sa atong polio vaccine. Makita nato ang atong polio vaccine is not enough to have a mass immunization (We did an inventory of our polio vaccine and we saw that we don’t have enough for mass immunization)," said City Health Officer Daisy Villa.

She said Mayor Edgardo Labella and Vice Mayor Michael Rama both assured that the city will support the department’s request for budget for additional vaccines.

She added that they are coordinating with the Department of Health (DOH) on the purchase.

"We will not only do the injectable but we have to do both oral and injectable," she said.

Labella ordered the mass vaccination after the Butuanon River, which Cebu City shares with Mandaue City, tested positive of poliovirus.

Villa said the mayor wants those living within a five-kilometer radius from the river to be prioritized in the mass immunization but emphasized that the whole city will be covered.

She also encouraged the public to go to health centers voluntarily. 

"Go to the health centers. Let your children be vaccinated," Villa said.

She said the city health office has surveyed the catchment areas in Barangay Pulangbato and Talamban two weeks ago and no one has manifested symptoms of polio just yet.

Vaccinations in Province

At the Provincial Capitol, the Provincial Health Office (PHO) said less than 60 percent of the target number of recipients was vaccinated for polio in 2019.

Of the 74,015 targeted last year, 56.04 percent or 41,477 received Oral Polio Vaccination (OPV) 1 while 56.59 percent or 41,883 received OPV 3.

Meanwhile, 50.16 percent or 37,128 received the Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV).

Dr. Christina Giango explained that the optimal time to vaccinate against poliovirus for infants is when the child reaches one and a half months. The first dosage of OPV will be administered and will be followed with two dosages in succeeding months.

On the third month, the OPV will be administered together with the IPV.

“After sa tulo nga oral, dapat naa unta siyay IPV-- injectable… Upat tanan, tulo ka oral, isa ka IPV (After the three oral vaccines, there should be the IPV, injectable… there are four vaccines in total – three oral vaccine and one IPV),” she explained.

She said most mothers tend to skip the IPV because they fear that their child could not tolerate the pain of the injectable vaccine. Giango emphasized that it is important to complete the four rounds of polio vaccinations.

“Kompleto gyud siya dapat (It has to be complete),” she said.

She said rural health units (RHUs) are urged to create an inventory of children in their jurisdiction who have not been vaccinated.

Polio, Dengue

Back in Cebu City, Rama delivered a privilege speech at the City Council yesterday emphasizing the need to give focus on polio and dengue.

“It saddens me more that this news came at an unfortunate time when we are still reeling from the upshots of the coronavirus disease 2019,” he said.

“Kung kita nahadlok sa coronavirus, ato sab hatagan ug pagtagad ang poliovirus ug ang dengue virus kay og maulahi ta, mag ihap ta og patay (If we are afraid of the coronavirus, we should also pay attention to the poliovirus and the dengue virus because we might be counting dead bodies if we fail to act fast,” he added.

A polio outbreak was declared in the Philippines in September 2019, the first recorded case in decades. Prior to this, the last documented case in the country was in 1993.

For dengue, the city recorded 308 cases with two patients dead from January 1 to February 8, 2020 alone. 

Rama requested the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Council (CCDRRC) and the city health department to come up with a comprehensive plan to control and prevent the occurrence of polio and dengue.  JMO (FREEMAN)