Vietnam receives pentavalent vaccines supported by WHO, UNICEF
VOV.VN - A batch of 5-in-1 vaccines urgently supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) arrived in Hanoi on July 27, according to UNICEF Vietnam.
The consignment comprising 185,700 doses of the DTP-VGB-Hib vaccine is expected to help the Ministry of Health to address the low vaccine rates and the 5-in-1 vaccine shortage that has challenged the national expanded programme on immunization (EPI) in recent times.
Most provinces have run out of the 5-in-1 DPT-VGB-Hib vaccine against life-threatening illnesses of diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, hepatitis B, and haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib).
The prolonged vaccine shortage is said to soon lead to the resurgence of infectious diseases in Vietnam unless the vaccines are supplemented.
Routine immunization services in Vietnam have been disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in approximately 114,000 children under 1 year of age not administered against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis in 2022.
In addition, due to the recent shortage of the 5-in-1 vaccine, an estimated 300,000 Vietnamese children born in early 2023 are yet to be vaccinated against the five child killers.