The Measles and Rubella-Oral Polio Vaccine (MR-OPV) Supplemental Immunization Activity (SIA) Phase 2 in Negros Oriental has been extended for another week due to the low turnout of target beneficiaries, said Dr. Socrates Villamor, provincial chief of the Department of Health (DOH) here.
Villamor, in an interview Tuesday afternoon, said the DOH-7 will hold the immunization activities until March 7.
He said it is not only Region 7 that has experienced a low percentage of accomplishment in the MR-OPV SIA but other parts of the country as well.
Assistant Provincial Health Officer Dr. Liland Estacion, in a virtual press briefing Monday afternoon, said as of the latest data, the province has already achieved 63 percent immunization for measles and rubella and 64 percent for the oral polio vaccine.
Estacion is hopeful that the province’s accomplishment rate will rise as its health workers are scheduled to return to the areas that were not visited due to the recent storm “Auring”, that brought with it heavy rains.
Next week, they will conduct another monitoring to determine the actual accomplishment of the government’s MR-OPV campaign in Negros Oriental, she said.
Villamor is hoping that after the one-week extension, the province would be able to attain its 95-percent accomplishment target.
The province had set a target of 142,855 children below five years old for the MR-OPV immunization activities scheduled for the entire month of February. (PNA)
