DOH to restart measles vaccination in schools on 2nd week of classes

MANILA, Philippines — Measles vaccination programs in schools will restart on the second week of classes, the Department of Health (DOH) announced on Tuesday.

“When we launched our outbreak response immunization the schools were on the end of school year so classes ended. We will restart our massive school-based immunization probably about two weeks when schools are formally opened,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said in a press conference at Hotel H20 in Manila.

DOH aims to implement its vaccine program for children enrolled in Kindergarten and Grade 6.

As of April 24, 2019, DOH said it has vaccinated 11 percent or 944,000 of its target of 8.5 million grade school students.

But the DOH chief said they also started immunization programs for children during the school vacation.

“This does not mean that nothing has been done with regard to vacationing children, we have achieved eleven percent because they are guided to go to health centers while they are on break,” Duque said.

DOH said from Jan. 1, 2019 to April 13, 2019, there are 31,056 measles cases with 415 deaths compared to 6,641 cases with 59 deaths in the same period in 2018.  /muf