The storage system and vaccines were completely damaged.
According to the Dien Khanh Regional Medical Center, all vaccines of the EPI program scheduled to be deployed in November and December in the Dien Khanh area were completely damaged. In addition to the cause of deep flooding, the power outage that lasted for many days caused the entire specialized cold chain system and civil refrigerators to preserve vaccines to be severely damaged. Accordingly, 3 specialized refrigerators located at the Dien Khanh Regional Medical Center and 8 civil refrigerators at medical stations were flooded and could not be restored or operated again, nearly 4,960 doses of vaccine stored in these devices were also damaged.
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| Medical staff at Dien An Health Station check vaccines damaged by floods. |
Doctor Le Thi Thuy Dung (Dien An Medical Station) said that during the peak days, floodwaters flooded the entire first floor of the station. The station's staff managed to move medicine, records and vaccines to the upper floor, but due to a power outage for 3 consecutive days, more than 100 doses of vaccine stored at the station for vaccination in November were completely damaged.
Not only vaccines, thousands of syringes, safety boxes and temperature monitoring devices were also swept away or damaged by the flood. Computers used to manage vaccinations at many health stations were also damaged. According to Dr. Nguyen Duc Son - Head of the Department of Disease Control, Dien Khanh Regional Medical Center, this damage is the most serious in many years, almost losing all vaccine supplies for the last two months of the year. This directly affects the vaccination schedule of children in the area. After preliminary statistics, the center reported to the Provincial Center for Disease Control.
Request the Ministry of Health to re-issue damaged vaccines
Faced with the situation of all vaccines and storage equipment being damaged in flooded areas, the provincial health sector has sent statistics to the Ministry of Health, Nha Trang Pasteur Institute, Department of Disease Prevention, and the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology for consideration and proposal to urgently resupply all damaged vaccines for November and December to the Dien Khanh area and areas affected by floods. At the same time, support specialized and civil refrigerators, temperature monitoring equipment and necessary vaccination supplies; allow temporary transfer of equipment and tools related to EPI (if needed). It is expected that immediately after receiving vaccines, the provincial health sector will immediately coordinate with medical facilities in the Dien Khanh area to vaccinate children, ensuring that children do not miss their vaccination schedule.
Doctor Nguyen Duc Son said: "When there is a vaccine, we will transfer it to the health stations to organize vaccinations for children immediately. In the Dien Khanh area, depending on the health stations, vaccinations for children are usually organized from the 10th to the 20th. Thus, the next phase in December is expected to be on the 10th. If the vaccine has not arrived in time, families can take their children to private vaccination facilities or to health stations in the province that still have vaccines to vaccinate." Doctor Le Thi Thuy Dung said that the Dien An Health Station has announced the postponement of the vaccination schedule for November to parents with children of vaccination age, and will notify via Zalo group or call parents to bring their children to the station for vaccination as soon as the vaccine is available.
Dr. Trinh Ngoc Hiep - Deputy Director of the Department of Health said that the Ministry of Health has assigned responsibility to the Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals, Nha Trang Pasteur Institute to continue supporting the health sector of Khanh Hoa province in the work of prevention and control during and after the flood. The Department of Health has compiled the vaccine needs of the regional health centers, commune and ward health stations that were damaged and sent them to the Ministry of Health to request early resupply so that the source of vaccines for the EPI program can be guaranteed to be sufficient for children. For the cold chain system and vaccine refrigerators at the facilities that were damaged, the Department of Health assigned the Provincial Center for Disease Control to have timely support solutions, ensuring that when the vaccines are transferred, they will be promptly vaccinated for children.
According to the Department of Health's recommendation, while waiting for the vaccine source, parents should update their children's vaccination schedule, keep contact information with the health station and proactively choose a suitable vaccination site if necessary.
C.DAN
Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/xa-hoi/y-te-suc-khoe/202511/de-nghi-cung-ung-khan-cap-luong-vac-xin-bi-hu-hong-f3f684d/
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