THE DEPARTMENT of Health plans to vaccinate 1.5 million children ages 5 to 11 in Calabarzon.

The agency aims to ramp up the inoculation of minors through its program “BIDAng Bulilit, Protektado sa COVID! Let’s ResbakULIT.”

Dr. Ariel Valencia, director of the Department of Health in Calabarzon, said that 266,966 children under the age of six in Quezon were unvaccinated. Meanwhile, 9,141 children were scheduled to receive their second dose.

Records showed that 337,633 children from the same group in the region have been fully vaccinated, while 421,491 have received their first dose.

Calabarzon has 1,541,791 unvaccinated 5-11-year-old children as of May 19, according to the Regional Vaccination Operations Center. Of these, Batangas has 291,367, Cavite has 362,034, Laguna has 320,414, Rizal, 301,011, and Quezon, 266,966.

To ensure that more children will be given protection, DoH personnel will do house-to-house or mobile immunization activities. It will also intensify the distribution of leaflets to inform more families about the vaccination campaign.