Nancy Binay calls for ramped up vax efforts for zero-dose children

FILE PHOTO: A boy stays by his younger sister’s side as the latter receives her COVID-19 vaccine shot at Marikina Sports Center in Marikina City on Monday, July 18, 2022. (Photo by GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Nancy Binay on Thursday urged health authorities and local government units (LGUs) to boost immunization efforts for children who have yet to receive even a single dose of routine vaccine.

She made this call as she expressed alarm over a report from the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) that a million children in the Philippines have not yet received at least one routine vaccine. The report tagged the Philippines as among the countries in the world with the highest number of so-called zero-dose children.

READ: PH confidence on vaccine for kids declines by 25% — Unicef

According to the senator, the government should revamp its strategy toward improving the country’s immunization status, especially with the entry of new COVID-19 variants and the resurgence of a string of other diseases.

The Department of Health (DOH) should boost its immunization plan and put up “stable machinery” to ensure that the zero-dose children are vaccinated within the next two years, she added.

“There are still a lot of underserved communities, and the critical link in our surveillance chain is the barangay. The DOH should partner with LGUs who must likewise scale up its response via information campaigns to help the public’s vaccine confidence and deal with the level of community resistance against having their children vaccinated,” Binay said in a statement.

The legislator argued that the pandemic sidelining routine but essential health services should not be used as an excuse since it does not take away the responsibility of the government to the children.

Binay said the unfavorable rank of the Philippines in the Unicef report, landing fifth in the world and second in the East Asia and the Pacific region, “definitely reflects the cost of inaction on zero-dose children.”

“The lack of access to essential vaccines and health services further exposes our children to multiple diseases that may lead to deaths. We need an exit plan. We need a strong and renewed commitment — political will with intensified efforts from the national and local governments to fill the immunity gap by establishing sustainable service delivery mechanisms through primary health care platforms,” she pressed.

Binay said the Philippines should stop early on the vaccination problem, noting that children should not be “victims of an immunization standstill.”

READ: DOH: Unvaxxed kids could start outbreaks

According to the Unicef, global vaccine hesitancy was driven by a slew of factors such as “uncertainty about the response to the pandemic, growing access to misleading information, declining trust in expertise, and political polarization.”

Zooming in on the Philippines, Unicef noted that reluctance in getting inoculated is rooted in cultural factors and concerns on vaccine safety.

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