“It’s
actually relative. Some people say that their children develop fever after
vaccination while other say there’s no side effect. Why deprive your child of
protection against preventable illnesses?” DOH Undersecretary Janet Garin said.
The DOH marked this preventive vaccination
against measles of 11 million children aged nine months to below five years and
some 13 million newborns up to five years against polio since the records from
the DOH - National Epidemiology Center (NEC) showed that only 84 percent of the
target children were vaccinated during the supplemental immunization in 2011,
the lowest since 1984.
It was in 2011 when the DOH introduced the
second-dose vaccine in the EPI that included measles, but not mumps and
rubella.
DOH said full coverage was not attained due
to parents’ hesitance to have their children receive the second dose. This
resulted in measles outbreak across the country the following years, including
this year.
A DOH official added first-dose vaccine
could only provide 85-percent protection.
The
public are rest assured that these vaccination teams have coordinated with the
leaders of religious groups in communities that have beliefs against
immunization.
