CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – A month-long Measles-Rubella and Oral Polio Vaccine (MR-OPV) Supplemental Immunization Activity will be conducted starting May 1 here to improve the immunization rate after many eligible children missed their routine inoculation because of the pandemic. Data of routine immunization in this city in the last two years is unavailable, but in 2020, only 77 percent of children was fully immunized, said Dr. Ina Grace Chiu, the City Health Office National Immunization Program medical coordinator, in a press briefing on Monday, April 3. This immunization coverage was considered low, as the local government needs to achieve at least 95 percent coverage per year. "So, when we say 70 percent or 80 percent, that’s very low; that’s why we have this kind of activity, the MR-OPV SIA this coming May 1-31, to have additional fully immunized children," Chu said. The CHO, in collaboration with barangays, will  conduct house-to-house immunization. A fixed post will also be established and the immunization will also be available in the 54 health centers in this city. Eligible children are ages zero to 59 months for the polio vaccine and nine months to 59 months for the measles-rubella vaccine. The CHO said regardless of the children's immunization status, whether fully immunized or not, eligible children should still be given the vaccines as part of their initiative to also combat the spread of these diseases. In an interview last October, Dr. Emma Imperio, national immunization program medical coordinator for the Department of Health (DOH)-Region 10, said that the number of suspected measles and rubella cases in Northern Mindanao from Jan. 1 to Oct. 16 increased by 82 percent from 67 to 122 in the same period in 2021. The city government, as well as the-DOH Region 10, have  been implementing routine immunization for children despite the pandemic. However, one of the factors contributing to the low coverage of fully immunized children was the prioritization of Covid-19 vaccination. According to the Field Health Services Information System for the first and second quarters of 2022, Northern Mindanao only had 34,163 fully immunized children aged 0 to 12 months out of the 108,469 total eligible population. Health officials here have urged parents to participate in the upcoming immunization.