Lebanon began a national campaign for the free vaccination of children against measles and polio on Tuesday under the slogan “The immunity of our children is at stake.”
In the south of Lebanon, the campaign was launched in cooperation with the Health Ministry, where hundreds of vaccine centers were established for that purpose.
The campaign is taking place in clinics, village municipalities, and towns, as well as in the squares of mosques and churches to raise awareness among parents and encourage them to bring in their children for vaccinations.
The main motivator for this campaign was a report published by the municipalities and NGOs in the area that shows low numbers of children getting vaccinated this year due to coronavirus fears.
The campaign will provide vaccines for children from 6 months old to 10 years old with a free additional dose of the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine.
“The municipality is taking strict measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Bqosta,” the Mayor of Bqosta Ibrahim Mezher said in a statement.
Mezher urged residents to cooperate in light of the “significant increase in the number of infections,” calling on them to wear masks and strictly follow coronavirus social distancing measures.
The vaccines are also provided for Palestinian and Syrian children. As Mayor of Bisarieh municipality Nazih Eid stressed, the vaccinations were open to “all residents, including Lebanese, Syrians, and Palestinians, without any racial discrimination.”
The campaign is set to continue until November 7th, with vaccine centers operating from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.