Navotas exceeds target: 28K kids get polio shots

MANILA, Philippines — Navotas City has become the first in Metro Manila to exceed its target of children vaccinated against polio.

According to Mayor Toby Tiangco, city officials initially targeted 28,080 children aged 5 and below for the Department of Health’s (DOH) Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio campaign.

But by the end of the project’s first round which began on Jan. 7, and through door-to-door visits facilitated by barangay officials, the city was able to vaccinate 28,145 children — 100.23 percent of the target – before the DOH’s Feb. 9 deadline. “I would like to extend my gratitude to the city health office for its efforts in vaccinating children in Navotas, as well as the parents who cooperated [in the campaign],” Tiangco said.

—Meg Adonis