The Philippine Red Cross on Friday said that it has accomplished 73% of its target, or 58,655 out of 80,000 children to be vaccinated for the fourth round of the vaccination program.
Senator Richard J. Gordon, PRC chairman and CEO said there should be no let-up in the regular vaccination program or those covered under the DOH’s (Department of Health) Expanded Immunization Program amid the on-going pandemic.
“We would not want to be dealing with outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases while we are still fighting in this World War C,” he said.
Amid the UNICEF warning that the COVID-19 pandemic may trigger an outbreak of vaccine-preventable diseases such as polio, the Philippine Red Cross has ensured that at least another close to 59,000 Filipino children would be saved, three days into the resumption of the Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio program.
PRC’s vaccination program drew support from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Data from the PRC’s Health Services showed that some 17,994 children in Mindanao were vaccinated on July 20; 21,335 on July 21; and 19,326 on July 22.
The DOH has announced that the fourth phase of the Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio program will run from July 20 to August 2.
“For this round, we have mobilized 608 volunteers and 43 staff and reached 160 communities in 36 cities/municipalities in Mindanao. Our chapters in Mindanao, 17 of them, participated in this endeavor. And I commend our chapters, volunteers and staff who put their fears aside to go house to house and be able to vaccinate these children,” Gordon said.
Before the DOH put the program on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the PRC, which is one of the former’s partners in the program, has vaccinated a total of 94,014 children in Mindanao for the third round of the vaccination program, exceeding its target of 60,000.