The country’s battle against Dengue got its needed boost as Watsons, the leading health & beauty chain in the Philippines, announced on Friday, March 31, the availability of the Dengue Vaccine also known as Dengvaxia in 108 Watsons stores nationwide!

In the last ten years, the Philippines experienced the 7th highest number of dengue cases in the world. And in 2015, it rose to epidemic levels with an average of 220 reported cases per day according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

In addition to dengue’s burden on a household, the illness can adversely impact a country’s economy through a loss of productivity caused by the illness and pre-mature death, increased healthcare costs and a possible reduction in tourism.

However, a new prevention tool in the fight against this high disease burden in the country has been introduced–-the Dengue Vaccine called Dengvaxia. This is why the Department of Health (DoH), together with the Department of Education (DepEd) launched the Dengue vaccination in as early as January 2016 to one million 9-year-old Filipinos enrolled in government schools.

This year, the fight against Dengue has become stronger than ever as Watsons will make the vaccine available to everyone for becoming the first retailer to offer Dengvaxia in the Philippine market. They will even offer vaccination in select stores this year.

“As part of our commitment to improve the lives and health of Filipinos by making healthcare more accessible to them, we decided to offer dengue vaccination in our select stores nationwide. Dengue is a recurring epidemic in the country, that’s why we recognize the importance of protecting Filipinos against this deadly disease through the vaccination,” says Watsons Trading Health Director, Mr. Danilo Chiong.

The Dengue Vaccination, to be taken in three doses at 0-6-12 months interval can protect the individual from four strain of the Dengue virus. This can be administered to people aged 9 to 45 years old.

Dengvaxia retails at P4,000 per dose or P12,000 for all 3 doses which is a reasonable price given the high cost of treatment of the disease.

Here are the first schedule of Dengue Vaccination in more than 100 stores nationwide:

1st Dose – April 30, 2017
2nd Dose – October 29, 2017
3rd Dose – April 29, 2018

The second scheduled Dengue Vaccination will be on:

1st Dose – May 14, 2017
2nd Dose – November 12, 2017
3rd Dose – May 13, 2017

For updates on Dengvaxia and the nationwide Dengue Vaccination, stay tuned on Watsons Philippines’ Facebook page at www.fb.com/watsonsph.

Here are some videos from the event: