Lack of vaccines, low vaccination rate in Ho Chi Minh City

In the first four months of the year, Ho Chi Minh City only achieved 77.3% of full vaccination rate for children under one year old, while the target is 95%.

The above information was announced by Mr. Nguyen Hong Tam, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control (HCDC) at a regular press conference on the afternoon of May 18. The target for booster shots for 18-month-old children in Ho Chi Minh City is also lower than planned, with nearly 79% of children having received the second measles shot and nearly 71% having received the fourth dose of diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus vaccine (DPT4).

According to Mr. Tam, vaccines in the Expanded Immunization Program are essential to prevent dangerous diseases for children. This is a national, free vaccination program that protects children from a number of common and highly fatal infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, hepatitis B, measles, Japanese encephalitis, cholera, typhoid, pneumonia, and Hib meningitis. Each month, Ho Chi Minh City needs 5,000-11,000 doses of each type of vaccine to vaccinate children.

Currently, vaccination facilities have completely run out of DPT-VGB-HiB and DPT vaccines for free injection. Accordingly, DPT-VGB-HiB vaccine (5-in-1 vaccine against diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, hepatitis B, Hib pneumonia and Hib meningitis) was last provided in October 2022 and has run out since early March. Meanwhile, DPT vaccine (against three diseases diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus) was last provided in February and has run out since early May.

Other vaccines in the Expanded Immunization Program are in very limited supply and are expected to run out in the next few months if no additional supplies are provided. From late May to September, the city will run out of vaccines for hepatitis B, Japanese encephalitis, tuberculosis (BCG), polio (bOPV), measles, tetanus (VAT), and measles and rubella (MR).

When there is no vaccine for mass vaccination, people have their children vaccinated by paid services, which is costly. Others have to wait, risking illness due to not being vaccinated on schedule. On the other hand, when immunity from vaccines weakens, there is a risk of widespread disease outbreaks, threatening the health system as well as people's lives.

"Without vaccines, not only are children not well protected, but community immunity is also affected," said Mr. Tam.

Mr. Nguyen Hong Tam at a regular press conference on the afternoon of May 18. Photo: My Y — Mr. Nguyen Hong Tam at a regular press conference on the afternoon of May 18. Photo: *My Y*

Currently, expanded vaccination facilities in the city still maintain a fixed schedule for vaccination of vaccines in stock. For vaccines that are out of stock, the vaccination unit will make a list of children who are scheduled for vaccination to wait for supply.

The Department of Health has requested the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology to soon resume the supply of vaccines under the Expanded Immunization Program to protect children's health and control epidemics in the community. The Department recommends that everyone take the initiative to take general preventive measures against infectious diseases, such as regularly washing hands, especially before contact with children, wearing masks when having respiratory symptoms, cleaning contact surfaces, and keeping the house well-ventilated.

Previously, the Expanded Immunization Vaccine was purchased by the Ministry of Health and distributed to localities through the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology. In mid-May, the Ministry of Health announced that localities would purchase vaccines themselves, leading to a shortage of free vaccines. The Government directed the Ministry of Health to continue purchasing vaccines, and localities would pay the costs. Currently, many provinces and cities are planning their vaccine needs and reporting to the Ministry of Health to purchase them. The shortage of Expanded Immunization Vaccine nationwide has not yet been resolved.

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