Peru’s health ministry urges measles vaccinations for children
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Peru’s Ministry of Health (Minsa) is asking parents to vaccinate their children against measles, citing vaccination as the primary way to protect against the contagious disease.
The measles, mumps, and rubella (SPR) vaccine is free in Peru and given in two doses at 12 and 18 months of age, providing over 99% protection when completed. Currently, Peru is vaccinating people from six months to 29 years old in areas experiencing active measles outbreaks.
Health workers are also vaccinating people up to 59 years old within a 12-block radius of any identified measles case to contain spread. César Munayco, director of the National Center for Epidemiology, Prevention and Control of Diseases (CDC-Minsa), stressed that people should vaccinate children before cases appear in their communities. To increase vaccination rates, Minsa is implementing targeted strategies, including vaccinating children aged 6 to 10 who have not yet received any measles doses.
A specialized team travelled to the Loreto region, in Peru, and with support from the Pan American Health Organization (OPS), deployed 19 vaccination teams and four comprehensive care teams to the Alto Monte settlement. As of late September 2026, these efforts had immunized approximately 23,000 people in Loreto, contributing to a national total of 1,239,601 doses administered since April. Peru currently has over 2 million measles vaccine doses in stock.
