THE Zamboanga City Health Office has renewed calls for parents, guardians and caregivers to have their children 0-59 months old avail of the free measles, rubella and polio immunization and help prevent future outbreak of these diseases.

Dr. Dulce Amor Miravite, city health officer, made the call Thursday, June 1, after the Department of Health has extended the Measles Rubella Oral Polio Vaccine (MR-OPV) Supplemental Immunization Activity (SIA) until June 15.

Those covered by the extension are cities and provinces that have not reached the 85 percent accomplishment rate for MR-OPV-SIA that ended Wednesday, May 31.

“We encourage all parents to have their eligible children avail of the MR-OPV vaccination and save them from threats of vaccine-preventable diseases,” Miravite said.

The City Health Office has recorded 76 percent accomplishment rate for measles rubella vaccination in this city.

The City Health Office targets to vaccinate 79,973 children aged nine to 59 months with the measles rubella vaccine and 93,802 children zero to 59 months old with oral polio vaccine.

Miravite said the people should be aware that many illnesses or deaths would happen without vaccines, which have been proven effective for so many years now.

Miravite’s office has deployed over a hundred vaccination teams to cover all 98 villages through the conduct of house-to-house, fixed sites and fixed mobile approaches to reach out all eligible population. (SunStar Zamboanga)