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The Ministry of Health recommends localities increase IPV vaccination for children born in 2021 and 2022 to prevent polio |
In the context of low global polio immunization coverage due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, the world has recorded cases of wild polio virus from endemic-hit countries spreading to countries that have eliminated polio.
Because polio vaccination is the best protection, in November 2022, WHO suggested that Vietnam increase the vaccination rate in the Expanded Immunization Program, especially vaccines against polio, measles, and rubella. Simultaneously, additional immunization should be provided to people in high-risk areas who have not received enough vaccine shoots.
The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology under the Ministry of Health has just sent an official dispatch to localities on polio vaccination (IPV vaccine) for children born in 2021 and 2022.
According to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, in 2021-2022 due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, many localities had to suspend regular vaccination, leading to the lowest immunization coverage within the past 20 years.
Specifically, the rate of taking the bOPV vaccine (bivalent oral polio vaccine) and IPV injection in 2021 only reached 69.4 percent and 80.4 percent while they were 70.1 percent and 89.2 percent in 2022.
Moreover, the rate of second IPV shoots reached 73 percent, leading to a decrease in the demand for these vaccines compared to the plan and increased inventory of IPV vaccines at medical facilities.
In March, WHO and the United Nations Children's Fund in Vietnam sent a letter to the Expanded Program on Immunization, requesting to increase activities of polio vaccination for children who have not been vaccinated or have not had enough vaccine shoots as scheduled in 2021 and 2022 for community immunity to fight against the entry of diseases into the Southeast Asian country.
There are three types of wild poliovirus (WPV) including type 1, type 2, and type 3. People must protect themselves against all three types of the virus to prevent polio disease. Polio vaccination is the best protection.
