COUNCILOR Maria Lourdes Gaane has called on parents in the city to get their children vaccinated for free at the nearest health centers before they start attending classes.
The Department of Education announced that the school year will formally open today and will end on April 3, 2020.
Gaane, chairperson of the city council committee on health and sanitation and health insurance, said, “We are aware that children most often get infected by viruses at school.”
Gaane said she hopes the city would be able to have at least 90 to 95-percent immunization rate to secure the so-called herd immunity required to prevent outbreaks or epidemics of diseases.
The Department of Health (DOH) has declared a measles outbreak in different regions in the country. The City Health Office (CHO) has recorded 78 cases with five deaths in different barangays in the city of Cagayan de Oro.
“We make this appeal due to the prevailing measles outbreak affecting the country,” Gaane said.
She cited that part of the reason for this is the reluctance of parents to have their children vaccinated due to the Dengvaxia scare in 2017.
“As a medical doctor, rest assured that the measles vaccine has been proven to be very safe. In fact, we have already eradicated measles in the country before the unfortunate Dengvaxia scenario occurred,” she stressed. (SP)
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