Philippines gets P145M to boost immunization coverage

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has received a P145.5 million grant from UNICEF and the Canadian government to improve COVID-19 vaccination and routine immunization, the Department of Health said Tuesday.

The partnership focuses on areas with the highest number of children who have not received any childhood vaccines and with the most unvaccinated individuals for COVID-19 booster shots.

These areas include select municipalities in the provinces of Antique, Davao Del Norte, and Sarangani as well as General Santos City and the Special Geographic Area in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

"Using a gender-responsive approach, we aim to achieve 95% coverage, addressing our standing as one of the top five countries with the highest number of zero-dose children," Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said.

The collaboration employs a gender-responsive approach to address specific needs and barriers, including socio-economic, cultural, and developmental disparities between men and women.

According to official data from 2022, only 637,000 Filipino children were fully immunized, representing a 60% coverage rate. This leaves millions of children at risk of outbreaks of deadly dseases like measles and polio.

On the other hand, 78 million Filipinos completed vaccination against COVID-19. Only 23.8 million got booster doses. — Gaea Katreena Cabico