The government has issued a resolution on the roadmap to further diversity vaccines in the EPI by 2030. A vaccine against Rotavirus will be named in the programme next year, while vaccines against pneumococcal disease, cervical cancer and seasonal flu will be included in the programme from 2025, 2026 and 2030, respectively, Hong added.
Parents currently must take their children to vaccination services, incurring significant costs.
The vaccine against Rotavirus will be deployed in the 33 localities first. Training for healthcare workers to administer the vaccine to children will be conducted in the first quarter of 2024. By 2025, all children under one nationwide are expected to be given the vaccine.Hong noted that 20 percent of the rotavirus vaccine used in the expanded immunisation programme will be supported by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, while the rest will be procured from domestically produced vaccines.
Each dose of vaccine against Rotavirus costs around VND700,000 (USD28). Vaccines against pneumococcal disease and cervical cancer are also quite expensive.
At present, it costs a Vietnamese child around VND20 million to be provided with all necessary vaccines.
