THE Paquibato and Marilog Districts in Davao City lead with the highest vaccination output against measles, rubella, and polio during the immunization campaign for children of the Department of Health (DOH).
According to CHO officer-in-charge Dr. Tomas Ababon, the Paquibato district achieved 101 percent vaccination coverage while the Marilog district reached 97 percent coverage. Both districts are mainly populated by members of indigenous peoples (IP) groups in Davao City.
“In our IP communities, luckily, our output in Paquibato and Marilog is very high. Cooperative ang mga IPs natin (Our IPs are very cooperative),” Ababon said.
For the month of May, the city’s vaccination output for measles and rubella has reached 84 percent which is equivalent to 130,063 vaccinated out of the target population of 154,138. While the oral polio vaccine (OPV) has a coverage of 75 percent out of the 21,529 target population.
However, there are remaining districts in Davao City with low vaccination output, namely Agdao, Bunawa, Tugbok, Sasa, Talomo South, and Talomo Central.
With this, CHO’s supplemental immunization activity in line with DOH’s nationwide immunization campaign for children, is extended until June 15. The mass vaccination was originally scheduled from May 2 until May 31 only.
“The personnel is doing their best to reach every purok in every district. Iyan ang isang strategy ng DOH (That is one of the strategies if DOH). Before it was to reach barangays, now we are trying to reach every purok,” Ababon said.
Region-wide, DOH-Davao targets to vaccinate 480,014 children aged nine to 59 months against measles and rubella and 561,320 children aged zero to 59 months for polio.