Ho Chi Minh City is expected to be allocated 14,400 doses of vaccine.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health , on December 16, 2023, 490,600 doses of DPT-VGB-Hib vaccine (5-in-1 vaccine) donated by the Australian Government for the Expanded Immunization Program through the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) arrived in Vietnam.

From this vaccine source, Ho Chi Minh City is expected to be allocated 14,400 doses. This is a vaccine to prevent a number of mandatory diseases according to the regulations of the Ministry of Health in Circular 38/2017/TT-BYT dated October 17, 2017, including: diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, hepatitis B, Hib pneumonia and Hib meningitis. This vaccine requires 3 basic injections, each injection at least 28 days apart, from when the child is 2 months old.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health has also developed a plan to immediately deploy the DPT-VGB-Hib vaccination when receiving this amount of vaccine. Accordingly, the Department of Health will allocate it to district health centers to immediately vaccinate children. Due to limited vaccine quantity, priority will be given to children 2 months of age and older who have not been fully vaccinated with 3 doses of DPT-VGB-Hib vaccine.

Ho Chi Minh City is lacking many types of vaccines in the expanded immunization program.

Vaccination will prioritize vaccines allocated to vaccinate children who have not received the first dose of DPT-VGB-Hib vaccine. At the same time, priority will be given to children in the youngest age group from 2 months old first, then to children with older ages, including children over 12 months old. After that, the health agency will re-vaccinate children who have not received all 3 doses of DPT-VGB-Hib vaccine, including children over 12 months old to under 24 months old.

The Department of Health assigned the City Center for Disease Control to be ready to receive, preserve, distribute and implement vaccination for children as soon as the above-aided vaccines are supplied; guide localities to proactively carry out activities of screening, making lists of subjects and inviting them for vaccination, communicating about the benefits of vaccination schedules and mobilizing parents to proactively bring their children for vaccination.

At the same time, free DPT-VGB-Hib vaccination will be organized in regular vaccination activities at health stations and some hospitals that carry out expanded vaccination to ensure that vaccination is organized safely and effectively according to regulations of the Ministry of Health. In addition, the Department of Health also directed hospitals in the area to be ready to support receiving and handling cases of post-vaccination reactions.

Previously, since November 2023, Ho Chi Minh City has run out of many types of vaccines under the National Expanded Immunization Program. It is known that the vaccine supply is under the responsibility of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology. However, from 2022 to now, the supply has been interrupted due to changes in the procurement mechanism, the Ministry of Finance has not allocated a budget for the Ministry of Health to purchase, localities have to purchase on their own, but all provinces and cities are facing difficulties.

In July 2023, the Prime Minister issued a resolution requesting the Ministry of Health to purchase vaccines. Accordingly, the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology will negotiate prices for domestically produced vaccines and bid for imported vaccines.

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/tp-hcm-du-kien-se-duoc-phan-bo-them-14400-lieu-vac-xin-post277363.html