The Ministry of Public Health announced it will be vaccinating against measles all children under five years from 6 to 21 November. The Ministry will be combing neighborhoods, taking the vaccine to the homes of impoverished Dominicans. Crews contracted by the Ministry will vaccinate from 6-7 November in the North of the country, from 13-14 November in the frontier areas, and from the 20-21 in the South and Southeast. The Ministry announced that this is a preventive effort that seeks to vaccinate an estimated 180,000 children five years or less that either were not vaccinated before or do not have the necessary coverage, as the vaccine is considered 90% effective. Preventive efforts have permitted the nation to practically eliminate polio, tetanus in newborns, and measles in children. Some 830,517 measles vaccinates will be distributed to children 9 months to five years, and 372,075 polio vaccinations will be applied to children two months to two years old.
