Mandaue City, Bohol Province top in kids’ immunization

CEBU, Philippines —  Mandaue City and Bohol Province topped the list in rubella-measles and oral polio vaccinations, respectively, in Central Visayas as of February 21, four days before the program will end.

This developed as Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III called on parents and guardians to have their children vaccinated.

Duque said there were approximately 800 deaths of kids in 2019 due to vaccine-preventable illnesses.

In a statement, Duque said these deaths are unnecessary and could have been prevented using vaccines that are proven to be safe and effective for over 40 years.

Data released by DOH-7 shows that the seven top performing bakunators for measles-rubella and oral-polio vaccines in Central Visayas are Mandaue City, Bohol, Cebu Province, Siquijor, Lapu-Lapu City, Negros Oriental and Cebu City.

For Cebu Province, San Remigio town top on the list as it is now 106.29 percent and 102.56 percent completed for measles-rubella and oral polio vaccinations, respectively.

The other top nine bakunators in Cebu Province for measles-rubella and oral-polio vaccination are City of Carcar, Santa Fe, Borbon, Daanbantayan, Tabuelan, Cordova, Consolacion, Madridejos and Compostela.

DOH officials continue to appeal to parents of children five years old and below to immunize them against polio, rubella and measles at their respective barangay health centers or vaccination posts.

DOH reported that as of February 21, 2021, 73 percent or 3,721,186 of nationwide targets have been vaccinated against measles and rubella, while 72.9 percent or 3,483,423 against polio as part of the second phase of the Measles-Rubella and Oral Polio Vaccination Supplemental Immunization Activity (MR-OPV SIA).

The immunization program launched its activity last February 1, 2021 covering regions in both Luzon and Visayas and scheduled to run until February 28, 2021.

In the Visayas, 516,748 (78.2%) children in Region VI, 422,104 (60.9%) children in Region VII, and 315,636 (68.8%) children in Region VIII have been vaccinated against measles and rubella while 588,197 (76.4%) children in Region VI, 497,067 (60.9%) children in Region VII, and 364,119 (68.0%) children in Region VIII have been inoculated against polio.

DOH added that the target number of children left to be vaccinated remains above 1.3 million for measles and rubella vaccine and 1.2 million for oral polio vaccine.

With only four days left in the immunization program, the DOH, together with development partners and concerned local government units, is immensely determined to double down on efforts to achieve the 95 percent target coverage to achieve herd immunity from vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, rubella and polio.

“We call on our local government units, who have better access to their constituents, to pitch in and assure our mothers that our health centers are safe places where they can get their children vaccinated. As long as we are able to comply with our minimum public health standards, as well as the protocols of the health centers, we can be protected from COVID-19,” Duque further said. — GMR (FREEMAN)