Over 2,000 healthcare personnel will administer measles and rubella (MR) vaccinations to over 307,000 children under the age of five from 26 to 28 November in Magway Region, state media reported.

Although the vaccination was given across the country in 2015, only 85 out of 100 children developed resistance to MR. The vaccination is aimed at further reducing the number of fatalities among children under five years old in the country, and eradicating congenital rubella as well as measles and rubella by 2023.

“Under the regular vaccination programme, the vaccines are given to children aged nine months to one and a half years. Those children who missed the vaccination the first time can also receive it under this programme,” Dr Khin Maung Than, Assistant Director of the Magway Public Health Department, was quoted as saying.