LAOAG CITY — Ilocos Norte has been spared of the controversial Dengvaxia, the Provincial Health Office (PHO) here assured residents on Tuesday.
Dr. Josephine Ruedas, PHO officer-in-charge, said Ilocos Norte is fortunate to have small number of dengue cases in previous years hence it was least priority as a recipient of the Dengvaxia vaccine distributed by the Department of Health.
She added that they have not monitored any private hospital or medical clinic which administered the vaccine to patients here.
The vaccine was administered to selected public school students in Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Calabarzon. These are the three regions with the highest number of dengue cases.
Under the government’s free dengue vaccination program during the administration of former President Benigno Aquino, the Department of Health reported that more than 800,000 school children were inoculated with Dengvaxia.
Dengvaxia is the world’s first vaccine against dengue virus developed by French pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur.
The dengue vaccine turned controversial after its manufacturer raised health concerns about it. (Leilanie Adriano/PNA)
