From now until 2030, four types of vaccines will be gradually introduced for free vaccination for various groups.
These include: Rota virus vaccine for children under 1 year old in 32 provinces in 2024, 41 provinces in 2025, and nationwide implementation starting in 2026; pneumococcal vaccine starting in 2025; cervical cancer vaccine starting in 2026; and seasonal flu vaccine starting in 2030.
Four service vaccines will be added to the list of vaccines under the Expanded Immunization Program.
Thus, according to the roadmap from now until 2030, four additional vaccines will be included in the Expanded Immunization Program (EIP) for free vaccination for the public, increasing the total number of vaccines provided for free to 15 types.
Currently, the four vaccines for these diseases are being administered as services with the following vaccination schedule:
- Rota virus vaccine: for children from 6 weeks old, with 2-3 doses depending on the type of vaccine.
- Pneumococcal vaccine: for children from 6 weeks old, with the vaccination schedule depending on the type of vaccine and the child’s age.
- Cervical cancer vaccine: administered to females aged 9-45, with 3 doses spaced at 0-2-6 months.
- Seasonal flu vaccine: from 6 months old, children receive the first dose with 2 injections spaced at least 1 month apart, followed by annual boosters.
According to Mr. Hoàng Minh Đức, Director of the Department of Preventive Health (Ministry of Health), the addition of these four vaccines to the free vaccination program will provide many people with more opportunities to access disease prevention vaccines. This will help reduce the risk of disease, lower transmission potential, and alleviate the burden of disease.
The vaccines currently used for the EIP in 2024 include: hepatitis B vaccine for newborns, tuberculosis vaccine, oral polio vaccine, measles vaccine, measles-rubella vaccine, Japanese encephalitis vaccine, diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus (DPT) vaccine, reduced-dose tetanus-diphtheria vaccine (Td), tetanus vaccine, Rota vaccine, and the combined “5 in 1” DPT-HBV-Hib vaccine.
According to registrations from 63 provinces/cities, nearly 1.3 million children are expected to receive 10 types of vaccines in the EIP in 2024, along with over 1.2 million pregnant women receiving the rubella vaccine.
Mr. Đức stated that the Ministry of Health has made significant efforts to find vaccine sources for public immunization.
In light of the disruption in vaccine supply, the Ministry of Health has proposed support and assistance for some vaccines to the EIP while waiting for the approval of the 2023 funding. Accordingly, the Ministry has received approximately 748,000 doses of diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus, hepatitis B, and Hib (DPT-HBV-Hib) vaccines from domestic and international organizations to distribute to 63 provinces and cities for vaccination implementation.
The Ministry of Health has completed and submitted to the Government for issuance of Decree No. 13-2024, which amends and supplements several provisions of Decree No. 104-2016 regarding vaccination activities, which stipulates that the central budget is allocated within the regular expenditure budget of the Ministry of Health to ensure funding for the continuous and effective implementation of the EIP.
The Ministry of Health is currently carrying out procedures to procure vaccines for supply in the last months of 2024 and to cover the first six months of 2025.
