Victorias City in Negros Occidental is joining the simultaneous launching today, Oct. 7, of the School-Based Immunization Program, jointly initiated by the Department of Health and the Department of Education.
The launching in the city will be at the Victorias North Elementary School, organized by the City Health Office.
The month-long initiative, or until Nov. 7, aims to immunize Grade 1, Grade 4 female students, and all Grade 7 students in public schools, the city said.
The DOH, meanwhile, is urging parents and guardians to prepare their children before taking part in the nationwide vaccination drive in public schools.
“In the previous years of our experience regarding Bakuna Eskwela, our learners, our children passed out because they were scared of getting vaccinated,” DOH Health Promotion Bureau division chief Dominic Maddumba said in an online briefing. “Feed your children before going to school. One of the reasons why they faint or get scared is they go to school on an empty stomach.”
He advised parents and guardians to explain to their children the benefits of vaccination, and assure them that healthcare workers and teachers would be there to look after their safety.
He also advised them to check if their children are physically fit for immunization. Those who have fever and other symptoms may defer the vaccination.
Bakuna Eskwela is DOH’s school-based immunization program, which aims to protect learners against vaccine-preventable diseases (VPD), such as measles, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, and cervical cancer due to human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, the Philippine News Agency said in a report.
These VPDs could lead to severe complications and death if not addressed appropriately and in a timely manner.
The immunization drive will cover learners in the first and seventh grade level for vaccines against measles-rubella and tetanus-diphtheria and female learners in the fourth grade level for HPV jabs.
Maddumba said concerned learners must bring their routine immunization card on the day of vaccination to check if they have completed all of the jabs and to avoid administering extra doses.
While the adverse effects following immunization are mostly mild, such as low-grade fever and pain on the injection site, Maddumba advised parents and guardians to immediately report severe adverse effects to the nearest health center or hospital.
The DOH earlier said it targets to immunize two million children annually. However, the current vaccination rate is only at 34 percent, with about 1.32 million children needing to be vaccinated this year. ||
