Some 77,235 children aged six to 59 months have been vaccinated in Negros Occidental and in the highly urbanized Bacolod City in the first week of the measles-rubella supplemental immunization activity (MR-SIA).

Data from the Department of Health Negros Island Region (DOH-NIR) on Monday showed that from Aug. 10 to 14, a total of 67,987 children have already been vaccinated in the 31 cities and municipalities.

The number is equivalent to 27.8 percent of the target 244,757 children, with 176,770 others yet to be vaccinated.

In Bacolod City, 9,248 children have been vaccinated or 18.9 percent of the target 48,839 children. Some 39,591 children have yet to be reached in the city’s 61 barangays.

The “Ligtas Tigdas” campaign, which runs until Aug. 28, aims to vaccinate children for free, and help protect them from measles and rubella, and also provide them Vitamin A supplementation.

Across the region, some 93,416 children have already been immunized out of the 437,586 target children population in Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Siquijor, and Bacolod City.

“The vaccination of 93,416 children marks a major success. Every child vaccinated represents a vital step toward a safer and healthier community. We still have to reach 344,170 children in the coming weeks because every single one of them matters,” the DOH-NIR said in a statement.

During the regional launch of the “Ligtas Tigdas” campaign in Bacolod City on Aug. 10, DOH-NIR Director Razel Nikka Hao was joined by World Health Organization consultant Dr. Mohammad Reazul Hasan.

Hao committed the DOH’s assistance to the local government units during the supplemental immunization activity.

“Our teams will be on the ground – not only to monitor, but to help. To advise when strategies are not working. To help solve problems as they happen,” she said. (PNA)