TACLOBAN CITY — Five of Eastern Visayas’ six provinces ranked among the country’s 20 poorest performers in fully immunizing children in 2025, according to the Second Congressional Commission on Education.

Leyte posted the region’s lowest rate at 46 percent, followed by Samar at 48 percent, Northern Samar at 49 percent, Eastern Samar at 50 percent and Southern Leyte at 53 percent.

All five provinces fell below the national baseline of 65 percent. The Department of Health targets a 95 percent full immunization rate among children.

The lowest rates nationwide were recorded in two provinces in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, with Basilan at 29 percent and Tawi-Tawi at 36 percent.

Under DOH guidelines, a child must receive one dose of the BCG vaccine, three doses of oral polio vaccine, three doses of pentavalent vaccine and one dose of anti-measles vaccine before turning 12 months old to be considered fully immunized.

The World Health Organization has repeatedly stressed that immunization is a proven way to prevent and control life-threatening infectious diseases, with vaccination helping reduce transmission and the risk of outbreaks.

The findings of the Second Congressional Commission on Education, or EDCOM II, were used in crafting the 10-year National Education and Workforce Development Plan for 2026 to 2035.