Hundreds of Hanoi parents have been queuing up after midnight on September 26 in to get their children the 6 in 1 vaccine.
Crowd waits in the early morning
Quynh, a mother living in Hoang Mai District, Hanoi, was happy to get her nine-month-old son vaccinated at 8:30am. The vaccine purportedly prevents diphtheria, tetanus, whooping-cough, hepatitis B, paralyse and Hib disease. The child got vaccinated after having to wait in line since 2am.
Satisfied with vaccination
“When my husband got here, some people were already waiting. Registration started at 4am,” Ngan said.
She added that this is the fourth time they tried to get their son vaccinated. Three times before, they were unable to get the vaccination because the institute ran out.
There are many other parents facing the same situation. Thanh, another mother, stood in line worrying that the vaccination centre would run out, but she was reassured that her ticket number, 80, would guarantee her a spot, as there were 350 doses left.
Early queuing
“I decided to pay for our baby’s vaccination instead of using nationalised vaccination services. This way we can get the 6 in 1. I believe that the 6 in 1 vaccine has less side effects than the Quinvaxem vaccine provided by the national vaccination programme,” Thanh said.
Nguyen Minh Hong, from the National Institute of Hygiene And Epidemiology, said there is a vaccine scarcity in the country. “We received only 500 doses, despite the fact we ordered more, 150 of which were used upon arrival. The rest were gone by the following day.”
Many too late to register
Nguyen Nhat Cam, director of the Hanoi Centre for Health Provision, said they ordered 800 doses of the 6 in 1 vaccine on September 22, but ran out within two days.
Hong added that, due to the scarcity, parents often race to get their children vaccinated. Some even falsify doctors' signatures for screening and check-ups to shorten the process.
