The batch consists of more than 185,000 doses, urgently provided for the Ministry of Health to address a reduction in immunization rates and a shortage of the 5-in-1 vaccine.

The vaccine helps protect children against diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis.

Like other countries around the world, routine immunization services in Vietnam have been disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in approximately 100,000 children under one year old missing vaccinations for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis, which are used as indicators of global immunization coverage, in 2022.

Due to the recent shortage, an estimated 300,000 Vietnamese children born in the beginning of 2023 have yet to receive this essential vaccine.