THE CEBU City Health Office (CHO) is stepping up its routine immunization, especially for “defaulters” or children who received the first dose but missed subsequent doses, after the Butuanon River was recently found positive for polio virus by the Department of Health (DoH). Cebu City Health Officer Daisy Villa said they are now coordinating with the DoH for the purchase of more vaccines as current inventory is limited and will just focus on the more affected areas, like near the Butuanon river, which was tested positive for polio virus. She said they are now evaluating data to trace the defaulters, noting that voluntary vaccination activities dropped in several barangay health centers after the Dengvaxia vaccine controversy. “We have available (vaccines) for routine immunization. For the extra, we will be targeting it on those defaulters,” she said. The city government has committed funding support for the additional vaccine purchase. — The Freeman
