Vaccine supply should not be delayed until the last minute

NDO - Many infectious diseases are on the rise across the country, including measles outbreaks with a high number of cases, more than 40,000 suspected cases, and 5 deaths. However, Vietnam is still not really proactive in vaccine supply and funding for vaccination. Vaccine supply disruptions have occurred in the past for many reasons, causing widespread disease outbreaks. How can we prevent this situation from happening again?

Single measles vaccines or 5-in-1 vaccines in our country's expanded immunization program have had their supply interrupted for a long time.

By the end of 2024, many localities still could not implement vaccination due to insufficient vaccines. Lack of vaccine coverage is one of the reasons why the epidemic is difficult to control.

In the first quarter of 2025 alone, a number of infectious diseases have shown an increasing trend. If we cannot proactively supply vaccines and wait until the last minute, no one can be sure that the shortage of vaccines will not recur.

At the most recent national online conference on measles prevention and control organized by the Ministry of Health, Director of the Department of Disease Prevention Hoang Minh Duc said: There are still many difficulties in disease prevention and control, the issue of vaccine supply for vaccination is not proactive, depending on foreign support.

In the immediate future, about 305,000 doses of measles vaccine are needed for the vaccination campaign, and provinces and cities must purchase this vaccine themselves. Although domestic organizations and businesses are supporting the donation of vaccines, in the long term, localities need to proactively source vaccines to prevent epidemics, because not only measles vaccines, but also many diseases that can be prevented by vaccines are also on the rise.

Mr. Hoang Minh Duc, Director of the Department of Disease Prevention, Ministry of Health at the National Online Conference on measles prevention and control.

Looking back at the time when vaccine supply was interrupted, the Ministry of Health has given reasons for the shortage of vaccines in the expanded immunization program.

According to the Ministry of Health, from 2023, implementing the Budget Law, localities must proactively purchase vaccines from their local budgets instead of waiting for the Ministry of Health to supply them as before.

However, the locality has encountered many difficulties in the implementation process. Delays, lack of understanding of the law, and concerns... are the reasons that have caused the bidding process for vaccine procurement in the locality to stagnate, leading to a shortage of supply.

At the end of 2023, to resolve the immediate situation and promptly supply vaccines, the Government issued Resolution No. 224/NQ-CP to arrange the state budget for 2024 to ensure the implementation of the Expanded Immunization Program.

At present, there has been no record of any shortage of vaccines for expanded vaccination. Vaccination work is still being accelerated as the epidemic increases.

However, if we do not proactively plan the number of vaccines and wait until the last minute, in the current context of still depending on vaccine supply, we will hardly avoid a repeat of the vaccine shortage that has happened before.

Currently, the vaccine procurement process still has many procedures that take time to implement (about 2 to 3 months). Localities need to proactively strengthen monitoring, understand the epidemic situation and vaccination work, and reserve vaccine sources in case the epidemic increases.

In case of necessity, it is necessary to immediately inform the Department of Disease Prevention, Ministry of Health for consideration and transfer from other provinces. Of course, being proactive with local resources is still the top priority.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/khong-nen-de-nuoc-den-chan-moi-nhay-trong-cung-ung-vaccine-phong-dich-benh-post866477.html