Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Lam Dong (VNA) - Ninety-five percent of Vietnamese infants have completed full vaccination programmes during the 2016-2020 period, under an expanded national vaccination programme, according to Director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology Dang Duc Anh.
At a conference held in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong on November 3, Anh said the percentage of fully-immunised infants has been maintained at above 90 percent since 2000.
Immunisation work this year has been affected by COVID-19, he said, adding that some 100,000 children missed out on life-saving DPT-VGB-HiB shots against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Hepatitis B, and Haemophilus influenza B (HIB).
According to a report from the institute, Vietnam successfully eradicated polio in 2000 and has worked to protect this achievement. It has good control over measles and is moving towards eliminating the disease shortly. National measles inoculation stands at over 95 percent.
Several new vaccines were put into use during the period, including the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV), with over 2 million five-month-old children getting the first shots nationwide. In addition, children aged seven years have received a Td shot against tetanus and diphtheria since 2019. This year, the combined diphtheria and tetanus vaccine reached 35 cities and provinces nationwide.
The healthcare sector targets sustaining such achievements during 2021-2025 and is working to eradicate other diseases with vaccines while trying to improve the quality of the vaccination system./.
VNA
