EVEN though some areas were placed under strict lockdown, the first of two rounds of the anti-polio immunization drive of the Philippine Red Cross achieved 80 percent of the target of the vaccination drive, the PRC said Friday.
Senator and PRC Chairman Richard J. Gordon reported that the vaccination drive against polio has reached 31,880 children ages 0-5 years in Region 3 and the provinces of Laguna, Rizal and Cavite.
With this achievement, Gordon lauded the efforts of the vaccination team saying, “In spite of the fears created by the Covid-19 virus, PRC staff and volunteers pushed on with [the] immunization program unmindful of the risks.”
The immunization teams are composed of a Team Leader, the person actually administering the vaccine, a recorder and a Health and Hygiene promotion staff.
Ten of the 104 PRC nationwide chapters participated in the program, contributing 23 members of their staff and engaging 233 volunteers to reach out to 72 communities in 20 cities and towns in Regions 3 and 4A.
Gordon recognized the efforts of the staff and volunteers, attributing the success of the immunization drive to the combined efforts of “the best professionals and responsive volunteers.”
A second round of vaccination will take place within the month of September.
This program is implemented through PRC’s partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, International Committee of the Red Cross, World Health Organization, United Nations International Children’s Fund and the Department of Health.
The polio outbreak in the Philippines was announced last September 19, 2019, with the first known confirmed case from a three-year-old girl in Lanao del Sur. Since then, 15 more children have been confirmed with polio, with ages ranging from below one-year-old to nine years old. The cases were identified in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Region 12 (Soccsksargen), Region 3, and Region 4A.
Polio is a highly infectious disease that mainly affects young children, who have not completed their vaccination schedules.
The disease is transmitted from person-to-person primarily through the fecal-to-oral route resulting from poor sanitation and hygiene practices, and less frequently through contaminated food, or water.
Once in the intestine, the poliovirus multiplies and it can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis or even death.
Image credits: AP/Bullit Marquez