Health authorities call for polio vaccinations to be stepped up
The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) under the Ministry of Health has urged localities to step up polio vaccinations to prevent viral diseases in children born in 2021 and 2022.
A child in Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi, receives an IPV shot as part of the Expanded Immunisation Programme. (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi(VNS/VNA) - The National Institute of Hygieneand Epidemiology (NIHE) under the Ministry of Health has urged localities tostep up polio vaccinations🐷 to prevent viral diseases in children born in 2021and 2♐022.
According to the institute, many localities had to pause standardvaccination programmes to focus on COVID-19 vaccination in this period,resulting in the lowest coverage rates of several vaccines in 20 years.
Both required vaccinations for polio (the oral bPOV and the injectionIPV) in 2021 reached 69% and 80%, respectively. The rates in 2022 were improvingfor a bit, hitting 70% and 89%, respectively.
As vaccinations declined across the world due to COVID-19 impacts,there have been reports of cases of polio spreading from countries where thedisease is still circulating to countries where polio was confirmed to havebeen eliminated.
In a meeting held in November last year, the polio eliminationcommittee of the WHO Western Pacific Region reclassified Vietnam from the groupof low-risk countries to the group of high-risk countries for wild poliovirusimportation or the occurrence of polio cases caused by mutated strains.
WHO Vietnam and UNICEF late February urged Vietnam ExpandedImmunisation Programme to boost polio vaccination efforts, especially forunvaccinated or partially vaccinated children in 2021 and 2022, to build astrong immune system for them against wild poliovirus infections.
Previously, NIHE has urged localities to review the estimatedamount of polio vaccines needed and carry out vaccination as scheduled, addingthat there are currently enough doses for all cities and provinces across thecountry.
The polio vaccination campaign to ensure enough doses for childrenwill be conducted in this second quarter, with vaccines coming from GAVI – aninternational organisation which helps with immunisation for developingcountries.
Med🦹ical supplies including safeboxes and needles have been distribuౠtedto localities, NIHE noted./.
Vietnam will use four more vaccines in the Expanded Immunisation Programme for the 2021-2030 period under Resolution No.104 of the Government on the roadmap to increase the diversity of vaccines in the programme signed by Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam on August 15.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh called for solidarity and the sharing of resources to study and produce vaccines and build an advanced bio-medical industry while delivering a pre-recorded speech at the World Bio Summit on October 25.
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A nine-month communications campaign launched by Vietnam’s Health Ministry, UNICEF, and WHO about the COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control has reached more than 60 people in the country.
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Leading Vietnamese companies specialising in respiratory and dermatological treatments, traditional medicine, immune support supplements, and functional foods will have an opportunity to connect with international distributors and secure export deals.
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This case marks the ninth fetal cardiac intervention conducted in HCM City, and it was considered the most technically demanding to date due to the fetus’s extremely early gestational age and the severity of the condition as diagnosed with aortic atresia.
The groundbreaking ceremony took place one day after the VNVC Vaccine JS Company and Sanofi Group exchanged cooperation documents on vaccine production technology transfer under the witness of State President Luong Cuong and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Vietnam’s traditional medicine took centre stage at the International Congress Biopharm Nonclinical Development, BioNCiD 2025, held on May 25-26 in the Cuban city of Varadero, amid growing global interest in sustainable healthcare solutions.
Under the agreement, VNVC and Sanofi will gradually implement technology transfers to enable domestic production of several key Sanofi vaccines that are widely used in Vietnam. In addition, Sanofi will support VNVC in training human resources and quality management in vaccine research and manufacturing.
Despite the ongoing global circulation and unpredictable developments of SARS-CoV-2, the World Health Organisation (WHO) hasn’t issued new warnings about COVID-19, said the Ministry of Health.
A child in Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi, receives an IPV shot as part of the Expanded Immunisation Programme. (Photo: VNA) 
