The Ministry of Health has decided to allocate over 420,000 Tamiflu pills from its reserve stock to 64 provinces, affiliated agencies, and various ministries. Deputy Minister Trịnh Quân Huấn stated that each unit will receive approximately 3,000 to 10,000 pills.
More than 400,000 of the aforementioned pills are part of 600,000 Tamiflu pills donated by Taiwan a few months ago. The remaining stock will be reserved for distribution as needed.
To ensure the proper use of these medications, the Ministry of Health has recently issued a directive requiring health departments and hospitals not to sell the allocated Tamiflu on the market, including in hospital pharmacies, as this stock is part of the national reserve plan aimed at epidemic prevention. Tamiflu is only to be used for individuals infected with the H5N1 influenza virus under strict medical supervision. The Ministry of Health is also studying ways to issue registration numbers to clearly distinguish between Tamiflu allocated for epidemic prevention and Tamiflu that companies import for unrestricted sale.
Regarding the H5N1 vaccine, Mr. Trịnh Quân Huấn stated that the Ministry of Health is awaiting results from the World Health Organization on the testing of vaccine samples produced by the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology before proceeding with human trials. These samples will be tested for their antigenicity to determine if they can induce immunity in humans. Mr. Huấn indicated that it is currently impossible to predict when this vaccine will be produced on a large scale. Answers to this question can only be provided after the completion of human trials. In principle, when developing a new vaccine, the most crucial factor is clinical experimentation. It is necessary to monitor how long it takes for the body to produce sufficient antibodies after vaccination, how long this immunity lasts—potentially several months or even years. Additionally, scientists must determine the shelf life of the product to include in the usage guidelines.
The Deputy Minister noted that recently, while all three regions have reported cases of acute respiratory infections, the primary causes are influenza or common pneumonia, with most cases being treatable. The avian influenza outbreak has also subsided, with only 14 provinces currently experiencing outbreaks.
According to the Treatment Department, among the recently hospitalized patients with respiratory infections is a veterinary worker who directly culls poultry. This individual was admitted to the Ho Chi Minh City Tropical Diseases Hospital on December 6 with pneumonia symptoms. Test results for this patient are still pending.
