Children immunization program begins

THE CITY Government of Zamboanga, in support of the Department of Health’s Measles-Rubella Tetanus-Diphtheria Immunization Program, has started the vaccination in Barangay Capisan.

The immunization program targets children 6-7 years old and 12-13 years old, according to City Health Officer Dr. Dulce Amor Miravite. She said Capisan was chosen first for the program because it is one of the barangays with low cases of Covid-19.

Miravite said barangays with the lowest number of Covid-19 cases are the priority for the immunization program which is also being carried out across the country. The program was launched even as the local government is ramping up its Covid-19 vaccination in Zamboanga’s 98 barangays. 

Last December, nearly 80,000 children had been vaccinated against measles and rubella in Zamboanga, exceeding the national target of 95%.

The Department of Health launched the program after saying that some 2.4 million children under the age of 5 are susceptible to measles - one of the most contagious diseases in the world.

It said about 9 out of 10 people exposed to the measles virus - who are not immune - will contract the disease. It can cause high-grade fever, rashes, cough, and eye infection and can lead to complications such as pneumonia, ear infection, blindness, severe diarrhoea, and swelling of the brain. (Zamboanga Post)