DOH vaccinates 600K kids vs measles, rubella in BARMM

The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday said it has already vaccinated over 600,000 children in the Bangsamoro Region against measles and rubella.

In a press briefing, DOH Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said a total of 646,000 children have been vaccinated against measles and rubella, which is 47 percent of the total number of kids needed to be vaccinated in the region.

The DOH is pushing to vaccinate at least 1.3 million children in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in April.

This is following the alarming surge in measles cases with 77 percent of cases in the Philippines being reported in BARMM.

Herbosa said vaccination in BARMM, which was temporarily halted during the Eid al-Fitr, has now resumed.

"Inallow natin na wag muna silang magbakuna for two days but they started again today (We allowed them to stop vaccination for two days but they started again today)," the Health chief said.

The eligible population to receive the vaccines is six months to nine years old, according to Herbosa.

"Tinaasan namin [yung age], kasi ang BARMM natagalan na marami ring bata na hindi vaccinated. Usually hanggang five [years old] lang (We increased the age bracket because BARMM took a long time to vaccinate and many children are still unvaccinated. Usually, it's just only up to five years old)," he explained.

"Maraming unvaccinated na may edad na so yun yung kino-cover natin (There are many unvaccinated children who are slightly older, so we're trying to cover them)," he added.

Herbosa said they only recorded three adverse events from the vaccine so far.

Those who had adverse events experienced fever and vomiting, Herbosa noted.