DOH youth vaccination drive: Over 3 million doses administered in first week
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday said it has already vaccinated 2.3 million youth against measles and rubella, as well as 829,165 against polio.
DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said the total number of vaccinated children reflects the first week of its monthly supplemental immunization campaign to vaccinate children against measles, rubella, and polio through the “Chikiting Ligtas 2023″ program.
The number of individuals vaccinated against measles and rubella translates to 24.2 percent of the total eligible population, while those vaccinated against polio make up 27.49 percent of eligible children.
“Ngunit vinavalidate pa namin ito so maaaring magkaroon ng kaunting diperensya sa reported validated numbers,” said Vergeire.
(But we are still validating it, so there may be a slight difference in the reported validated numbers.)
Vergeire said the DOH has also successfully distributed Vitamin A supplements to at least 385,000 families.
The said immunization drive was conducted to avert outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, specifically measles, rubella, and polio.
A Unicef report earlier indicated that the public perception of the importance of vaccines for children in the Philippines declined by 25 percent at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
