Department of Health Secretary Dr. Francisco Duque III on Friday assured the strict monitoring of children who received Dengvaxia in the City of San Fernando during a program held at San Isidro Integrated School.
Duque, together with DOH Regional Director Dr. Leonita Gorgolon, City Officials and representatives from the Department of Education, also led the ceremonial distribution of Identification Cards to the students covered by Dengvaxia vaccination and their parents which will be used to track and monitor the children.
Aside from personal information, the health cards also contain dengue immunization record, signs and symptoms of dengue and DOH hotline numbers.
The secretary also stressed that these cards will allow the recipients an access to the Dengue express lanes in different hospitals.
“Kaagad po ninyong dalhin sa mga ospital o rural health units ang inyong mga anak kapag sila ay nakaramdam ng ano mang sintomas ng dengue. Sinisiguro po namin na wala kayong babayaran sa mga pampublikong ospital dahil may PhilHealth. Kami po ay nakikipag-ugnayan na rin sa mga pribadong ospital na huwag na rin kayong singilin,” Duque added.
In his speech, Mayor Edwin “EdSa” Santiago expressed his gratitude to the health secretary for visiting the Fernandino community to discuss the issues on the controversial Dengvaxia vaccine to ease the worries of the parents.
“Napakahalaga po na magkaisa ang lahat para malampasan natin ang krisis na ito at mapanatiling ligtas at malusog ang lahat ng mga bata na nabakunahan hindi lamang dito sa syudad kundi sa buong bansa, “Mayor EdSa added.
Vice Mayor Jimmy Lazatin, for his part, shared that he also got vaccinated twice with Dengvaxia yet he remains healthy and fit. In this note, he furthered “wala po tayong dapat ika-alarma lalo na ang lokal na pamahalaan ay nakatutok sa lahat ng mga nabakunahan nito upang masiguro ang kanilang kaligtasan.”
Meanwhile, the officials also attended the Dengue Summit hosted by the Provincial Government and visited Jose B Lingad Memorial Regional Hospital to discuss other related concerns.