By Catherine Mae Gonzales
Around 400,000 students were given their initial doses of their Dengvaxia inoculation shots, but the Department of Health is still looking at reaching 600,000 more as part of its “battle cry” to vaccinate children against common diseases.
DOH Spokesperson Eric Tayag said they are on the track towards meeting the one million target students to receive shots of Dengvaxia, the first dengue vaccine approved last year.
“The actual coverage will be reported only after the third dose because you need three doses and that will take a year for these vaccines [to be fully delivered],” he said.
Each round of doses will be given every six months, which means that the DoH will be able to finish the activity in 2017.
The first round of the vaccine was given from April to June among school children aged 9 and below from the National Capital Region, Central Luzon and Calabarzon, areas that recorded almost 50 percent of more than 92,000 dengue cases in the country as of September 2015.
But there is still no definite target for the next regions in line.
“This is the first public introduction of a vaccine. We’re making sure that we’re monitoring everything so that we will have good reason when the time comes whether or not we’re going to include other regions as well,” Tayag said.
“Usually when we have good experience with the vaccines for the three [regions] and we have enough money, then we can see a future wherein everyone gets it,” he added.
Tayag called on parents and health providers to submit every child to vaccination to prevent unnecessary deaths, as shown by the DoH’s other vaccination programs.
“The only reason why there’s not so much appreciation anymore is because… when you don’t see outbreaks, people have this impression [that vaccination is not needed],” he said.
“The good part is we’re not seeing the diseases anymore. Children are not dying from the diseases anymore, but the unintended consequence was people misunderstood it,” the spokesperson added.
Last year, the World Health Organization reported that one out of five children worldwide are not receiving vaccination services which can lead to 1.5 million unnecessary deaths each year.
“It’s really a battle cry. Vaccinate every child at the proper time,” Tayag emphasized.
Aside from overlooking its relevance, some parents also hold off their children because of fear on its alleged effects.
“If you think that mothers understand this easily, some won’t because they read so many stuff in the internet that makes them fear about vaccines,” Tayag said.