In order to protect children from vaccine-preventable infectious diseases, the city's healthcare sector consulted all parents with young children at the recommended ages to proactively take their children for vaccination.
Besides, parents can also contact the city-run vaccination centers and facilities to uptake of vaccines that are not included in the National Expanded Program on Immunization to protect the health of their children and family members from dangerous infectious diseases.
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health reported that in 2022 and 2023, vaccination rates in Vietnam, including Ho Chi Minh City have been affected following the Covid-19 pandemic.
The country has faced disruptions in vaccine supply, specifically the shortage of vaccines against measles, whooping cough and diphtheria for the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) since May 2022; chain disruptions for DPT-VGB-Hib (SII) vaccine against diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, hepatitis B and haemophilus influenza type B (Hib), also known as 5-in-1 vaccine from November, October 2022 until August 2023.
Amid these challenges, the city’s health sector has proactively planned to get booster vaccinations of various vaccines under the EIP for children in the city to increase the immunization coverage against diseases in the EIP, proactively prevent vaccine-preventable infectious diseases, maintain the achieved results of the EIP, thereby controlling and eliminating some vaccine-preventable diseases.
Currently, the proportion of full vaccination for children under one year old who were born in 2021 and 2022 in the city has reached from 95 percent.
