The Department of Health (DOH) has distributed to health centers here in Zamboanga Peninsula two new vaccines to ensure the health protection of children zero to one year old, a health official announced.
DOH Regional Expanded Program on Immunization Coordinator Annette Tan said the two new vaccines are known as the Pentavalent Vaccine and the Rotavirus Vaccine.
HIB is a bacterial illness that can lead to a potentially deadly brain infection in young children.
Tan said the Rotavirus Vaccine protects a child from diarrheal diseases caused by rotavirus.
The Pentavalent Vaccine is administered to children zero to one year old in three doses starting when the child is one and a half month old, Tan said.
She also said the Rotavirus Vaccine is given in two doses. The first dose is administered when the child is six to less than 15 weeks old while the second dose is when the child is 15 to less than 32 weeks old.
She said the two vaccines are already available in the health centers in the region and distributed for free.
She advised the parents to bring their children to the health centers to be immunized with Pentavalent and Rotavirus Vaccines.
Tan said the release of the two vaccines is aimed at protecting children from zero to eight months from diseases which are preventable through vaccination.