The Ministry of Health (MOH) has approved a new recommended schedule of the National Expanded Programme on Immunisation, in which the second measles shot given to children aged 18 months old will be replaced by a measles-rubella vaccine.

On May 13, the General Department of Preventive Medicine at the MOH said that the measles-rubella vaccine, developed by the Serum Institute, is supplied by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) with financial support of the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI).

According to the General Department of Preventive Medicine, the measles-rubella immunisation campaign for children aged 1-14 years old nationwide—the biggest of its kind—started in mid-September last year to prevent measles outbreaks in the country.

More than 19 million children have been vaccinated against these diseases and over 50 cities and provinces have completed the campaign, which aims to have at least 95 percent of children receive measles vaccination.-VNA