A healthcare worker gives a shot of vaccine to a child.
The city’s health sector sees disruption risks in the supply of vaccines against measles and DTP (diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis) that have not been offered in May; Japanese encephalitis from the middle of October; BCG (bacille Calmette-Guerin) from the middle of December; MR (Measles-Rubella) from the beginning of October; and 5-in-1 DPT-VGB-Hib (SII) vaccine against DPT (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis), hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae B (HIB) manufactured by India from the middle of December.
The lack of the Bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV) is scheduled to take place in the middle of October.
The HCMC Department of Health proposed that the People’s Committee of the city send a request for the supply of vaccines to the Health Ministry to meet the demands of the population in the southern economic hub.
On June 29 and August 12, the HCMC Health Department sent documents of disruption risks in the supply of vaccines against measles and DTP (diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis) to the Ministry of Health. However, the city has not received these vaccines yet.
The National Expanded Program on Immunization in Vietnam began in 1981 and was initiated by the Ministry of Health with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
The program offers free vaccination to under-1 children to protect them from deadly childhood diseases. In 2010, 11 vaccines were authorized for children in the National Expanded Program on Immunization.
