WHO Official Refutes Rumors of Five-in-One Vaccine Trial on Kids in Vietnam

Dr. Kohei Toda, an expert from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Expanded Program on Immunization, has voiced rejection over the information spread on social networks in Vietnam that WHO is conducting clinical trial of the South Korean-made vaccine Quinvaxem or 5-in-1 on Vietnamese kids. The WHO expert said the made-in-Korea Quinvaxem vaccine quality has been tested and approved to sell in the market since 2006. So far, the vaccine has been used in 94 nations worldwide with 449 million dozes having injected to children. Dr. Toda stressed that WHO did not use Vietnamese kids to serve as test subjects. Dr. Kohei Toda underlined that the rate of children dying after vaccination this year remained the same compared to that in previous years. He stressed that the rate of vaccine –related deaths in the Southeast Asian nation is 4.5 over one million dozes which is lower than WHO’s statistic of up to 20 deaths over one million dozes. The WHO expert asserted that the vaccine is necessary to prevent disease as its price is reasonable and its quality is good. In the Southeast Asian countries, the vaccine is being immunized for kids in different countries such as Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia and Laos. In Vietnam, 24.9 million dozes have been used since 2010, he added. (Thoi Bao Kinh Doanh – Business Times Nov 12 p7, Phap Luat Vietnam – Vietnam Law Nov 11 p2, Saigon Giai Phong – Liberated Saigon Nov 11 p7)