MONROVIA, January 20 (LINA) - An official of the Ministry of Health is urging parents to take their children for the third phase of the nationwide Measles Immunization Program which will be launched in April.
The Deputy Program Manager for the Expanded Program on Immunization, Mr. Adolphus Clarke, disclosed that the ministry will embark on the campaign April 10-16, 2015 simultaneously in the 15 counties.
He noted that the exercise was geared towards protecting children against future outbreaks of the disease.
He made the call Friday at the Ministry of Information daily Ebola press briefing held at the ministry in Monrovia.
Clarke revealed that as a result of the growing number of un-vaccinated children in the country, the ministry began its first round of periodic and routine immunization in December 2014 with an estimated 500,000 children targeted.
He said the second round, which ran from February 1-6, 2015, registered low turnout as a result of misconception that the vaccination program was part of the ongoing Ebola vaccine trial.
Clarke indicated that the Ministry of Health vaccinated only 30 percent of the estimated 500,000 children that were targeted, adding: “The third phase of immunization will target the remaining 70 percent of the children.”
LINA