VietNamNet Bridge – The Chief of the Preventive Medicine Agency – Mr. Nguyen Van Binh – has said that the 5 in 1 vaccine Quivaxem of Korea will be used again in October, after being paused for five months.

Health Ministry to make a conclusion on vaccine quality in June

Binh said the decision was very carefully considered by the Ministry of Health after receiving investigation results of the vaccine quality from institutions at home and abroad. All institutions confirmed that this vaccine is safe.

According to the Preventive Medicine Agency, each month 380,000 babies in Vietnam need Quivaxem vaccination. Therefore, the number of kids for Quivaxem vaccination this October will be huge after five months. In preparation, the Ministry of Health has prepared 1.5 million doses of Quinvaxem vaccine.

Quinvaxem vaccine has been used in the expanded immunization program in Vietnam from June 2010 as aid. Since then there have been 43 cases of severe reactions after vaccination.

According to the World Health Organization’s independent investigation, of these cases, 27 deaths were not related to vaccination. There were nine cases are considered related to vaccination but they all recovered. The remaining cases were not related to immunization and vaccine quality.

Earlier, the Government Office also informed the Ministry of Health of the resumption of Quinvaxem vaccine in the expanded immunization project.

Earlier in May, the Ministry of Health decided to stop using Quinvaxem vaccine in the expanded immunization program after five children died after vaccination; four of which were confirmed to not be related to the vaccine. After that, the World Health Organization announced that the Quinvaxem vaccine batches of Vietnam were checked and confirmed safe.

Quinvaxem vaccine simultaneously works against five diseases, including diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, Hib and hepatitis, which is pre-tested for quality by the World Health Organization. When it is imported in to Vietnam, this vaccine is once again tested by National Institute for Vaccines and Biologicals. The vaccine has been used in more than 90 countries with a total of over 400 million doses.

M. Lan