“It was a well planned program to cover schools and universities in all 20 health regions in the Kingdom,” ministry spokesman Dr. Khalid Al-Mirghalani told Arab News. He explained that each health region would have its own program to cover institutions in their localities.

Jeddah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Majed launched Sunday morning at his city office the first phase of the campaign. Director of Health Affairs in Jeddah Dr. Sami Badawood was also present.

Initially government schools will be covered and then students in community schools and foreign schools over the next four weeks. Regional health directors will also seek the cooperation of the respective governorates to carry out their task, Al-Mirghalani said.

He said there was a good response from students because the Ministry of Health devoted a full week preceding the vaccination campaign to raise public awareness. “We are aiming to cover more than 5 million students under this program,” he added.

Badawood appealed to parents to help make the campaign a success by encouraging their children to take the vaccines when the medical teams visit their schools.

He thanked the Ministry of Education for its cooperation in the efforts to make school children infection free and healthy. He also called on health workers to deal with children in a sensitive manner.

Last week, Education Minister Prince Faisal bin Abdullah and Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah launched an awareness campaign in all health regions in the Kingdom to apprise parents, teachers and students of the importance of safeguarding against MMR.

The program is being carried out by the Health Ministry in coordination with the ministries of Education and Higher Education.

The MMR vaccines are being given to those aged nine months to 24 years.  The five-week first phase of the campaign targets schoolchildren. The second phase, which will cover children below six years and the youths, will begin on Dec. 3.

— Muhammad Rasooldeen and Muhammad Humaidan contributed to this report.