Vaccine hesitancy main challenge in increasing fully-immunized children: DOH | ABS-CBN

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Vaccine hesitancy main challenge in increasing fully-immunized children: DOH

Vaccine hesitancy main challenge in increasing fully-immunized children: DOH

Harlene Delgado,

ABS-CBN News

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Parents bring their babies to the Department of Health launching of Vax-Baby-Vax in Taguig City on November 7, 2022. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File

MANILA — The Department of Health (DOH) said it will intensify its information drive on vaccines and immunization to address vaccine hesitancy, which remains the main challenge to getting children fully immunized against vaccine-preventable diseases.

The DOH on Thursday opened its National Immunization Summit 2025, which it called an avenue for multi-sectoral collaboration to further protect children from vaccine-preventable diseases.

DOH Asec. for Public Health Services Cluster Farwa Hombre said fear of vaccines among the public, driven by misinformation, is still prevalent.

“Because of the social media may mga nababasa po sila ngayon na nagko-contradict po dun sa tinuturo po natin na matagal na epektibo nga po ang bakuna,” she said in a chance interview on the sidelines of the event.

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(Because of social media, where they read claims that contradict what we say that vaccine have long been proven effective)

The DOH official also acknowledged that the Dengvaxia controversy continues to affect public perception on immunization.

The health official underscored the importance of vaccination to prevent the resurgence of outbreaks among the vulnerable sector.

Hombre also noted that they will proactively combat misinformation and disinformation while boosting efforts to educate the public on the safety and efficacy of vaccines.

“Even sa ibang programa, ‘yung mga 'fake news' na naglalabasan, nagbibigay po kami ng report or ng advisory as well and we also coordinate with our social media platforms to take down those fake news,” she added. 

(Even for our other programs, we issue reports or advisories against 'fake news' and we coordinate with social media platforms to take down those 'fake news'.)

The health department aims to immunize 95 percent of the child population in the country.

Partial and unofficial data from a DOH report showed that only 61 percent or 1.4 million children were considered fully-immunized as of December 31, 2024. 

Fully-immunized children are those who have completed the necessary vaccinations before reaching one-year old.

Dr. Janis Bunoan-Macazo, DOH National Immunization Program manager, said these include one dose of BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guerin), three doses of pentavalent vaccine, three doses of oral polio vaccine, and two doses of measles, mumps, rubella vaccine.

The agency said they are coordinating with manufacturers to mitigate the global shortage of Hepatitis B and pentavalent vaccines.

Despite this, the DOH assured there are no reported outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases in the country.

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Ipinanawagan ng isang grupo ng mga duktor na maging bukas ang gobyerno sa mga bagong bakuna kontra dengue. Ipinaliwanag naman ng Department of Health kung bakit matagal ang isinasagawang pagsusuri ng Food and Drug Administration sa bakuna. Nagpapatrol, Raphael Bosano. TV Patrol, Huwebes, 20 Pebrero 2025 

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