Health workers go house hopping to vaccinate kids vs preventable diseases
Several health workers went house hopping in Quezon City to vaccinate children against preventable disease amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The healthcare workers inoculated children from ages six to 13 for booster shots against preventable diseases such as measles, rubella, tetanus, and diphtheria.
“May COVID-19 po kaya hindi po kami nakakapunta, hindi po makalabas. Ngayon lang po sila nakakalabas nang maayos noong nag-Alert Level 2 na,” parent Nancy Rasos said in Maki Pulido’s “24 Oras” report on Friday.
(Since the COVID-19 pandemic we can’t go outside. We are able to finally walk outside with the implementation of Alert Level 2.)
Apart from house hopping, health care workers also set themselves up in basketball courts and conducted vaccinations there as many parents came with their children.
“May batang magkakasakit, whereas kung magpapabakuna sila ngayon lesser yung gastos nila may proteksyon na sila,” Gina Gabuyo, nurse, said.
(Some children will get sick, whereas if they get vaccinated now they will have protection.)
Before the pandemic, children were easily inoculated against preventable diseases since most of them were in schools.
Dr. Eric Tayag, an epidemiologist, said the measles outbreak in 2019 could happen again as many children did not take their booster shots during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020, only 65% of children ages two and below were fully vaccinated against various diseases. Meanwhile, only 73% of children had completed their measles vaccinations.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that 95% is the vaccine coverage needed to prevent a measles outbreak.
Tayag said that more than four million children need to be vaccinated against measles before the year ends.
“Yung tigdas mas nakakahawa yan sa COVID-19. Pangalawa ang tatama niyan ang mga batang wala pang 5-years-old. Pangatlo maaaring mamatay ang isang batang tatamaan ng tigdas at kung maraming mahahawa dyan sa tigdas maaaring mga matatanda na hindi nabakunahan sa tigdas noong araw ay maaring mahawa rin,” he added.
(Measles is more contagious than COVID-19. Second, it will affect children ages under 5-years-old. Third, a child can die of measles and it can also infect adults who have not been vaccinated against it.)
It was estimated 22 million babies worldwide have not been vaccinated against measles.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) urged the public to ramp up vaccination in order to prevent the measles outbreak amid the COVID-19 pandemic. — Richa Noriega/DVM, GMA News
