The Manila City government on Friday said around 114,936 children in the city have already received supplemental measles-rubella vaccines, or 81.6 percent of total target population.

“Thankful po kami sa Manila Health Department dahil sa dedikasyon at kooperasyon ng lahat. Dahil dito, naging mabilis at episyente ang ating measles vaccination (We are thankful to the MHD for their dedication and cooperation. Because of this out measles vaccination has been conducted in a fast and efficient way),” said MHD officer-in-charge, Dr. Arnold Pangan in a statement.

Pangan said this was the highest recorded measles vaccination data for any local government unit in the National Capital Region (NCR) as of February 11.

With the rate of their vaccination program, the MHD is hoping to vaccinate the remaining 25,890 children in the city by next week.

Manila Mayor Francisco ‘Isko Moreno’ Domagoso earlier said that the city government hopes to complete the said vaccination program against measles and rubella before the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccines arrive in the country.

He said this is to enable them to focus on the upcoming Covid-19 vaccination program in the city of Manila.

The Measles-Rubella Supplemental Immunization Program is a nationwide campaign launched by the Department of Health.

The DOH has been vigilant in preventing measles, rubella, and even poliomyelitis as there are an estimated 2.4 million children under the age of five who are considered susceptible to the diseases.

Measles or ‘tigdas’ is one of the most contagious diseases in the world in which about nine out of 10 people exposed to the measles virus and not immune are likely to contract the disease.

The DOH said there is no specific treatment for these illnesses and that these can only be prevented through vaccination. (PNA)