Davao City – The Davao City government has called on parents of children age nine to 59 months to have their children immunized against measles during city-wide measles immunization from October 25 to November 26.
Dr. Julinda Acosta, the head of the City Health Office (CHO) Technical Division, said the city-wide immunization activity this year will be conducted in fixed posts like barangay health centers, health stations, nutrition posts, as well as temporary posts such as covered courts, instead of the previous house-to-house strategy.
“This is so ma-ensure talaga natin ang proper screening and precautionary safety protocols. The measles vaccination kasi is injection, hindi patak. Dapat maganda yung area sa immunization sites (This is to ensure the proper screening and precautionary safety protocols since the measles vaccination is administered through injection, not drops. There must be proper immunization sites),” Acosta said.
The city targets to vaccinate more or less 150,000 children aging 9 to 59 months regardless of immunization status to make sure that there is no child left behind.
This year, CHO recorded lower measles cases in Davao City with 133 cases and 2 deaths against the previous year’s 835 cases and 13 deaths.
Acosta said this is because children are not allowed to go out due to the pandemic.
Still, the CHO will not be complacent and will make sure that no children will be left behind.
Acosta said that there is a pool of unvaccinated children due to the movement restrictions brought by the pandemic.
“These children are susceptible to the disease and they need to be vaccinated in order to prevent a possible outbreak.”
Acosta was hopeful that parents would have their children immunized because measles is a deadly disease but can be prevented through a vaccine.
“We encourage parents. Paano ngayon na nasa Covid situation tayo and what if naa na pud mag outbreak na mga preventable diseases. So sana maprotektahan nato ang mga bata (Now that we are in this Covid situation, what if there would be an outbreak of preventable diseases. So we hope that we can protect the children),” she said.
She assured that the vaccines for measles are safe to use and there is nothing to worry about.
CHO is also set for a virtual orientation with 182 barangay captains all over the city to disseminate the information in the grassroots.
Measles is a disease that comes from the rubeola virus and commonly affects children aged 6 months up to 12 years old. Its symptoms include high fever, cough and colds, swollen eyes, and red rashes all over the body. (City Information Office)