MANDAUE CITY, Cebu — A measles vaccination campaign in Mandaue City is facing a major hurdle—not a lack of vaccines, but growing hesitation among parents.
Health officials said the city has vaccinated only 37 percent of eligible children based on its own master list, while the accomplishment falls to 26 percent when measured against the Department of Health’s (DOH) target. Both figures remain dramatically below the 95-percent coverage goal considered necessary to maintain strong community protection against measles.
The figures underscore the challenge confronting Mandaue as health workers continue a door-to-door campaign designed to reach thousands of children who may otherwise remain vulnerable to measles and rubella.
Misinformation becomes a major obstacle
Mandaue City Health Officer Dr. Debra Maria Catulong said misinformation circulating on social media has contributed to parents’ reluctance to have their children vaccinated.
Health workers conducting house-to-house visits have reportedly encountered strong resistance, including parents refusing vaccination and, in some instances, aggressive behavior toward vaccination teams.
Earlier in the campaign, Mandaue health officials reported that only around 3,000 of more than 30,000 targeted children had received their shots. Officials also reported hundreds of refusals and deferrals each day, highlighting how quickly vaccine hesitancy was affecting the campaign.
The Mandaue City Council subsequently moved to condemn online posts allegedly discouraging parents from having their children vaccinated and called for action concerning misinformation that officials believe may be contributing to the low turnout.
Why the 95-percent target matters
The concern goes beyond the number of children vaccinated.
Measles is among the world’s most contagious infectious diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that when vaccination coverage falls below 95 percent, communities become increasingly vulnerable to outbreaks, particularly when the virus is introduced from outside.
WHO’s latest immunization data also show that measles continues to expose gaps in childhood vaccination worldwide. In 2025, only 84 percent of children globally received a first measles-containing vaccine dose, while 77 percent received two doses.
For communities such as Mandaue, the concern is therefore not simply whether an individual child receives a vaccine, but whether enough children are protected to prevent sustained transmission.
Cebu’s wider vaccination problem
Mandaue is not facing the challenge alone.
Across Central Visayas, the DOH reported that only 87,738 of 630,214 targeted children, or 13.92 percent, had been vaccinated as of Aug. 18 during the region’s measles-rubella supplemental immunization campaign. The figure was far below the agency’s 95-percent target.
Cebu City has also struggled with low participation. SunStar reported that as of Aug. 15, only 9,227 of its 90,604 target children, or 10.18 percent, had been vaccinated, while hundreds of parents had refused or deferred vaccination.
These figures point to a broader challenge for health authorities: restoring public confidence while reaching children who have not yet received protection.
Mandaue extends its vaccination effort
The measles-rubella supplemental immunization campaign in Central Visayas officially began on Aug. 10 and was initially scheduled to run until Aug. 28.
Because of the number of children still unreached, Mandaue officials said their door-to-door vaccination activities would continue until Sept. 4.
The city deployed vaccination teams across its barangays, with doctors joining health workers in areas where parents have expressed concerns. The goal is not only to administer vaccines but also to directly answer questions about vaccine safety and address misinformation.
Health workers have also faced physical risks during house-to-house operations, prompting the city health office to provide pre-exposure rabies vaccinations to some vaccination personnel and barangay health workers because of encounters with animals during field visits.
A child’s death raises fresh concerns
The vaccination campaign has also been complicated by concerns surrounding the death of a seven-month-old child in Dumanjug, Cebu, following vaccination.
DOH-7 has urged parents not to assume that the vaccine caused the death, saying that no medical evidence so far has established a link between the child’s death and the measles-rubella vaccine. An investigation into the case is ongoing.
That distinction is important: a medical event occurring after vaccination does not, by itself, establish that the vaccine caused the event. Determining causality requires medical investigation and evidence.
The bigger danger may be the immunity gap
Health authorities are now racing against time to close the gap.
The problem is particularly serious because measles can spread rapidly through communities with insufficient immunity. WHO says the disease can cause severe complications, including pneumonia and encephalitis, and remains almost entirely preventable through vaccination.
For Mandaue, the immediate challenge is therefore twofold: reach children who remain unvaccinated and rebuild confidence among parents who are relying on conflicting information online.
The city has extended its door-to-door campaign, while health officials continue to appeal directly to families.
But with coverage still substantially below the 95-percent goal, the question facing Mandaue is becoming increasingly urgent:
Can health workers close the vaccination gap before measles finds the children who remain unprotected?
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