(L-R) Dr. Navid P. Roodaki, a Pediatrician from the Ilocos Training and Regional Medical Center, Dr. April A. Basilio, DOH Regional Coordinator for Family Health and Dr. Marjorie G. Pudin, Dentist III from DepEd – Region 1 led the panel of resource persons during the joint press conference for “Bakuna Eskuwela” School Based Immunization Campaign held in Bauang, La Union on October 14, 2024.
THE regional offices of the Department of Health (DOH) and Department of Education in Ilocos yesterday assured the public that they are ready to vaccinate 165,000 school children from Grades 1-7 in all public schools all over Region 1 during a joint press conference held in Bauang, La Union on October 14, 2024.
DOH Regional Director Paula Paz M. Sydiongco has assured that there are enough vaccines to accommodate the target number of students for immunization. “We will be prioritizing the vaccination of students from the public schools at pagkatapos ay amin namang babakunan ang mga grade school students sa mga private schools dahil kasama sila sa mga dapat mabigyan ng proteksiyon laban sa mga vaccine preventable diseases.”
Sydiongco said that the “Bakuna Eskuwela” Program is a school-based immunization program for school-aged Filipino children that will protect them against vaccine-preventable diseases including measles, rubella, diphtheria, and human papilloma virus (HPV).
“Sa mga magulang naman ng mga batang edad 0 months old pataas ay maaring magpabakuna sa kanilang mga barangay health stations para sa kanilang routine immunization schedules.”
According to the data gathered by the DOH Regional Family Health Unit, as of October 2024, the province of Pangasinan has already given measles-rubella (MR) vaccine to 5,738 students and tetanus-diphtheria (TD) vaccines to 5,730 grade school students; La Union has 2,859 students immunized for MR and 2,855 for TD; Ilocos Norte has 2,319 for MR and 2,319 for TD; and Ilocos Sur with 2,387 for MR and 2,388 for TD.
Meanwhile, DepEd Regional Director Tolentino G. Aquino said they continue conducting information campaigns on vaccine-preventable diseases to reduce vaccine hesitancy among their students.
“We have also conducted meetings with parents to inform them on the importance of getting vaccinated and to secure their consent for their child’s immunization.”
“Maraming mga batang mag-aaral ang naapektuhan ng mga sakit na maari namang maiwasan sa pamamagitan ng pagbabakuna laban sa mga ito. At ito ay aming ipinapaliwanag sa mga magulang at sa mga studyante upang ito ay kanilang maintindihan,” Aquino emphasized.
The “Bakuna Eskuwela” implementation is guided by the DOH National Immunization Program (NIP) Department Memorandum No. 2024-250, entitled “Interim Guidelines on the Resumption of School-Based Immunization (SBI) after the Covid-19 Pandemic.”
The program will run until November next month.
