Manila, Sept. 7 -- A total of 279,973 children in Eastern Visayas have been vaccinated against measles and rubella, bringing the region's coverage to 96.5 percent during the month-long activity, the Department of Health (DOH) regional office here said.

In a report released Monday, the DOH field office here said the vaccination rate was achieved during the month-long measles-rubella supplemental immunization activity (MR-SIA) across the region's six provinces and highly urbanized city from Aug. 10 to Sept. 4 this year.

"Each percentage reflects the continuous effort to bring vaccination closer to every child in the community," the DOH said in a statement.

Of the total vaccinated children, 109,221 came from Leyte province, 60,099 from Sa...