300,000 Doses of Three Major Vaccines to Arrive in Vietnam Soon

Vietnam will not face shortage of vaccines for children any more as more than 300,000 doses of 5-in-1, 6-in-1 and chickenpox vaccines are scheduled to be delivered from now to September. Of the sum, two local companies will import 62,000 doses of 5-in-1 Pentaxim vaccines, the Tuoi Tre newspaper reported on July 10, citing the Vietnam Drug Administration. The administration said a new supplier will bring 160,000 doses of chickenpox vaccines into Vietnam from the U.S. and another 10,000 doses from South Korea in the next three months. In addition, 100,000 doses of 6-in-1 Infarix Hexa vaccines will arrive in Vietnam on Aug 18. Deputy Head Nguyen Tat Dat of the department pledged adequate supplies of vaccines for Japanese encephalitis for both the free-of-charge expanded immunization program and paid vaccination service. The program gives all under-5 children three first shots of this vaccine. The ministry’s Department of Preventive Medicine reported that as of July 4, 357 virus encephalitis cases were recorded in 32 out of the 63 provinces and cities, with six fatalities. Meanwhile, there were 16,380 chickenpox patients by the end of May compared to 7,900 cases from a year earlier. Vietnam has two immunization programs, namely the national immunization program and the immunization services. The Ministry of Health supplies 11 free vaccines, including against tuberculosis, diphtheria, polio and whooping cough, to the national immunization program, which is funded by the state and the ministry's budget. The vaccines being used in the immunization services, meanwhile, were imported based on the market demand. There had been a fall in demand for vaccines earlier due to low public awareness in some parts of the country and also because of some reports about adverse reactions being experienced following vaccinations. This has prompted some firms to reduce the amount of vaccine imports this year, leading to a vaccine shortage in the health services. In recent days, several parents rushed to get their children vaccinated after hearing about the arrival of the five-in-one and chicken pox vaccine supplies. Many of the parents waited for four or five hours to get their children vaccinated. (Tuoi Tre – Youth Jul 10)