Ho Chi Minh City runs out of 6 types of vaccine, including 5-in-1
Thursday, November 23, 2023, 14:14 GMT+7
The stockpile of DPT (Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus), hepatitis B, measles, polio, measles-rubella, and 5-in-1 vaccines in Ho Chi Minh City is currently empty, according to the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control (HCDC).
The HCDC recently reported to the municipal Department of Health on the supply of vaccines in the city as of October 15 this year.
The center cited the Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute as saying that the latter will temporarily run out of the hepatitis B, DPT, measles, measles-rubella, 5-in1, bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), tetanus, and inactivated polio (IPV) and bivalent oral polio (bOPV) vaccines in the near future.
The city ran out of the DPT vaccine in May this year; the hepatitis B, measles, polio jabs in early September; and the measles-rubella as well as 5-in-1 shots early this month.
Moreover, the city is expected to have no more oral polio and BCG vaccines by the end of this month, and no more tetanus and Japanese encephalitis vaccines from between mid-December and early January.
According to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE), the supply of the DPT-VGB-Hib vaccine to serve Vietnam's national expanded program on immunization will be available in late December at the earliest.
Launched in 1981, the national expanded program on immunization in Vietnam is providing immunization against 12 vaccine-preventable diseases, namely tuberculosis, hepatitis B, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, Hib, measles, rubella, Japanese encephalitis, cholera, and typhoid.
The DPT-VGB-Hib vaccine helps protect children against diseases such as diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B, and Haemophilus Influenzae type B (Hib).
Meanwhile, when the remaining vaccines are restocked remains unknown.
Late last month, the Ministry of Health replied to the Ho Chi Minh City administration’s query about the supply of vaccines to the city’s vaccination campaign.
The health ministry said it had tried to secure the provision of vaccines but the process takes time and the NIHE would supply the vaccines to Ho Chi Minh City and other localities as soon as possible.
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