Hospitals and medical centers in Ho Chi Minh City have been told to ready themselves for the administration of 5-in-1 vaccines to children citywide as 14,400 make their way to the city, easing the current shortage.

The municipal Department of Health announced on Wednesday that it was allocated the 14,400 doses by the Ministry of Health in light of a vaccine shortfall that had dampened the city’s participation in the national expanded program on immunization.

These vaccine doses are expected to last about two months.

Last Saturday, 490,600 doses of the jab sponsored by the Australian government in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) arrived in Vietnam, the ministry said.

The pentavalent vaccine provides children with protection against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), hepatitis B, and haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib).

In Vietnam, the 5-in-1 vaccine is given to babies between two and 18 months old, according to the health ministry.

Due to the limited volume of the vaccine doses, children who have not previously received their first shot of the jab will be administered first, with babies who are two months old topping the priority list.

Changes in Vietnam's vaccine purchasing regulations led to the disruption of the supply of the 5-in-1 vaccine in the country.

Ho Chi Minh City is among the localities that have felt the impact of the vaccine undersupply.

As a result, many parents have opted to have their children vaccinated at private medical centers, while those in financial difficulties have had no choice but to keep waitingt for the free provision of the 5-in-1 shot from local authorities.

The Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control (HCDC) was told to prepare itself to receive, preserve, and distribute the vaccine shots supplied by the Health Ministry to medical facilities citywide.

The HCDC was also told to support medical facilities in carrying out the national expanded program on immunization, including making a list of children subject to the inoculation, raising public awareness about immunization, and calling on parents to get their babies vaccinated timely.

Medical facilities should also prepare themselves to cope with cases of unexpected post-vaccination symptoms, the municipal health department asked.

Launched in 1981, the national expanded program on immunization in Vietnam provides immunization against 12 vaccine-preventable diseases, namely tuberculosis, hepatitis B, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, Hib, measles, rubella, Japanese encephalitis, cholera, and typhoid.

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