MANILA –The Department of Health (DOH) said Tuesday 1,110,698 Grade 1 students have been vaccinated against measles-rubella (MR) through the school-based immunization program (SBIP) as of December 13.
In a media forum, DOH Secretary Dr. Teodoro Herbosa said the figure represents 67.63 percent of the target students for the grade level.
Meanwhile, 939,062 or 59.92 percent of the target students were vaccinated for the Grade 7 level.
For tetanus-diptheria (TD), 1,106,389 (67.37 percent) Grade 1 students and 937,056 (59.75 percent) Grade 7 students were protected.
The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) had the highest number of Grade 1 students who received MR (97.51) and TD (97.33) vaccines, followed by the Caraga Administrative Region (CAR) with 95.58 percent for MR and 95.57 percent for TD; and Northern Mindanao with 94.82 percent for MR and 94.73 percent for TD.
Northern Mindanao had the most number of Grade 7 students who received MR (94.88) and TD (94.82) jabs, followed by the CAR (with 93.44 percent for MR and 93.44 percent for TD); and Caraga (with 91.80 percent for MR and 91.78 percent for TD).
For human papilloma virus (HPV) protection, 505,010 (59.75 percent) female students in Grade 4 were vaccinated.
The top three regions with the most number of HPV-immunized students are Caraga with 123.18 percent coverage; Ilocos Region, 100.48 percent; and Northern Mindanao, 99.60 percent.
Herbosa noted the two-month SBIP resulted in low coverage percentage.
Since every vaccination is complicated, he said the DOH needs more for the SBIP.
“Ang problema ay katatapos lamang natin mRNA vaccination na tinira nang tinira sa social media, na nadamay pati ‘yung traditional vaccines (The problem is we’ve just finished with the mRNA vaccination which was attacked in the social media, and the traditional vaccines were affected),” he said.
“I think pababalikin namin ‘yung trust and confidence [sa vaccines] especially after Covid-19, the measles outbreak, the pertussis outbreak, napu-prove na namin na tama kami. Kita niyo kapag hindi nagpapabakuna, dumadami namamatay sa (I think we’ll gain back the trust and confidence [in vaccines] especially after Covid-19, the measles outbreak, the pertussis outbreak. We’ve proven we’re right that if you’re not vaccinated, many die from) measles, pertussis,” he added.
Herbosa disclosed that the DOH also fell short in making dialogues with the parents who signed the students’ consent form for vaccination.
“Hindi namin na-i-campaign sa parents, baka dapat (We weren’t able to campaign it with the parents, maybe) our dialogues should be with the parents, the PTA [parent teacher association] so the parents will really follow about the value of vaccinating their children,” he said.
The DOH and the Department of Education launched the SBIP on October 7 to protect school-age children from MR, TD, and cervical cancer which are vaccine-preventable diseases.
The program aims to immunize at least 3.8 million public school students enrolled in Grades 1 and 7.
About 973,930 female Grade 4 students in selected public schools are targeted for protection against cervical cancer. (PNA)