With the UNICEF warning that at least two million Filipino children below two years old who may miss out on vaccinations this year amidst COVID-19 could be vulnerable to an outbreak of vaccine preventable diseases, Senator Richard J. Gordon stressed the need to boost the country’s capability to develop its own vaccines.
Gordon said vaccine factories should be established in the country, noting that countries like Thailand and Vietnam, which has four, have their own facilities.
The senator, who is also chairman and CEO of the Philippine Red Cross, pointed out that disruption in the provision of immunization services increases the number of susceptible individuals in the community, adding that the declining immunization coverage is exposing children to vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and polio.
“This can lead to outbreaks of VPDs as well as VPD-related deaths, and further burden the already exhausted healthcare resources due to the rise in COVID-19 cases,” he said.
