A company in HCM City has been accused of selling vaccines at overly high prices and providing vaccinations despite not having permits.
Saigon Medical Supplies and Consumable Company was inspected
Parents have been worried about free immunisation programmes following some tragic accidents. They have turned to private providers and are willing to pay VND650,000 (USD30) to VND750,000 for a shot elsewhere. Although Vietnam can make single disease vaccines in large numbers, it cannot yet make the preferred 5-in1 or 6-in-1 vaccines, which require only one shot to immunise children against a wide range of diseases.
Supplies are often quickly exhausted but parents still book their children in to wait for the vaccination shots. Taking advantages of the situation, the Saigon Medical Supplies and Consumable Company announced that they were selling 5-in1 vaccine at VND2m a shot and parents were forced to make a VND500,000 deposit.
However, according to the HCM City Health Department's inspectors, the Saigon Medical Supplies and Consumable Company was only allowed to sell medicines and medical supplies, not perform medical practices. The company claimed that children would get shots at the Pasteur Institute, Preventive Medicine Centre and Mekong Maternity Hospital, but all three units denied they were collaborating with the company.
30 customers have registered to buy vaccines from Saigon Company, in which 27 people paid their deposits. The department has asked Saigon Company to cease its operations and provide refunds to its customers. The investigation is being expanded.
Bui Minh Trang, Health Department's inspectorate, said, "There are rumours that people are buying vaccines overseas then bringing them into Vietnam as private luggage then reselling them at higher prices. Parents would invite doctors to their home or bring the vaccines to acquaintances at medical centres. This is dangerous because vaccine can be damaged if it is not stored properly."
