1 million kids vaxxed vs measles in BARMM

MANILA, Philippines —  Up to one million children in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao have been vaccinated against measles since a measles outbreak response immunization (MORI) was launched in BARMM.

Department of Health spokesman Albert Domingo said the DOH is close to achieving the 1.3 million target vaccinees under the MORI program, which started on April 1.

Domingo said children up to 10 years old are the targets of the vaccination campaign.

The massive vaccination drive is in response to the measles outbreak declared in BARMM after 48 percent of the cases nationwide were recorded in the region.

Latest DOH data showed that there were 1,817 measles cases nationwide from Jan. 1 to April 13.

“If you have a child, please bring them to the nearest government health facility wherein vaccine against measles is given for free. Let’s have them vaccinated and protected,” Domingo said.

He said the DOH is also monitoring the measles situation in Central Luzon.

“Some eight percent of the total measles cases nationwide were reported in Region 3,” Domingo said. ”We are looking at the cases in Central Luzon for the reason that there is a high population in the region.”