The Department of Health (DOH) assured on Tuesday that it is ready to vaccinate 165,000 school children from Grades 1 to 7 in all public schools in the Ilocos Region.

DOH Regional Director Paula Paz M. Sydiongco confirmed that there are enough vaccines to accommodate the target number of students for immunization.

“We will be prioritizing the vaccination of students from the public schools at pagkatapos ay amin namang babakunan ang mga grade school students sa mga private schools dahil kasama sila sa mga dapat mabigyan ng proteksiyon laban sa mga vaccine preventable diseases (We will be prioritizing the vaccination of students from the public schools and then we will vaccinate grade school students in private schools because they are among those who should be given protection against vaccine preventable diseases),” Sydiongco said.

Sydiongco explained that the “Bakuna Eskuwela” program is a school-based immunization initiative for school-aged Filipino children that will protect them against vaccine-preventable diseases,ssssssssss including measles, rubella, diphtheria, and human papilloma virus (HPV).

“Sa mga magulang naman ng mga batang edad 0 months old pataas ay maaring magpabakuna sa kanilang mga barangay health stations para sa kanilang routine immunization schedules (Parents of children aged 0 months old and above can be vaccinated at their barangay health stations for their routine immunization schedules),” she added.

According to the data gathered by the DOH Regional Family Health Unit, as of October 2024, the province of Pangasinan has already administered the measles-rubella (MR) vaccine to 5,738 students and tetanus-diphtheria (TD) vaccines to 5,730 grade school students.

Meanwhile, La Union has 2,859 students immunized for MR and 2,855 for TD; Ilocos Norte has 2,319 for MR and 2,319 for TD; and Ilocos Sur has 2,387 for MR and 2,388 for TD.

DepEd Regional Director Tolentino G. Aquino said they will continue conducting information campaigns on vaccine-preventable diseases to reduce vaccine hesitancy among their students.

“We have also conducted meetings with parents to inform them on the importance of getting vaccinated and to secure their consent for their child’s immunization,” Aquino said.

“Maraming mga batang mag-aaral ang naapektuhan ng mga sakit na maari namang maiwasan sa pamamagitan ng pagbabakuna laban sa mga ito. At ito ay aming ipinapaliwanag sa mga magulang at sa mga studyante upang ito ay kanilang maintindihan (Many young students are affected by diseases that can be prevented by vaccination against them. And we explain this to parents and students so they can understand),” he emphasized.

The vaccination program will run until November.