QUEZON CITY — The Department of Health (DOH) started on Monday, October 7, its nationwide, school-based vaccination program dubbed “Bakuna Eskwela.”
The health department reminded the parents to prepare their children for the event.
“Para handa ang inyong anak sa pagbabakuna: Pakainin siya bago pumasok sa paaralan; suriin ang kanyang kondisyon bago pumasok; kung may sakit o lagnat, ipaalam agad sa paaralan upang maipagpaliban ang bakuna kung kinakailangan; siguraduhin na ang bawat hakbang ay nasusunod para sa ligtas at maayos na pagbabakuna!”
(To prepare the children for the immunization event, do the following: feed your kids before sending them to school; check their physical condition; those with fever and other symptoms may defer the vaccination if necessary; make sure that all the steps for the administration of the vaccine are followed.)
The program seeks to vaccinate school-age children against vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs) such as measles, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, and cervical cancer in all public schools across the country, the DOH said.
In an earlier post on social media, the DOH said that the program seeks to immunize at least 3.8 million public school students in Grade 1 and Grade 7 with MR and Td vaccines.
Also, it said that it targets to immunize 973,930 female Grade 4 students in selected public schools with the HPV vaccine that protects against cancer.
The program will be implemented until November.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara and Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa led the Bakuna Eskwela kickoff at the Dr. Albert Elementary School in Sampaloc.
The program is implemented in partnership with the Department of Education to protect schoolchildren from vaccine-preventable diseases. (PIA DMD)