Increased measles cases among older children prompt the Ministry of Health to launch a third phase of the vaccination campaign in 2025.
According to Ministry of Health statistics, measles incidence has decreased (6%) in the 1- to 10-year-old age group (representing 61.4% of the population), and slightly (0.4%) in the under-1 group (2.7%, including infants under 6 months without measles vaccine indication).
However, the disease rate has increased by 6.4% in the over-10 age group (35.9%, mainly the 11- to 15-year-old group at 19.2% and those above 16 years old at 16.7%).
Therefore, the Ministry of Health has decided to launch Phase 3 of the 2025 measles vaccination campaign.
Measles vaccination campaign The Ministry of Health continues its measles vaccination program (Image: A child receiving measles vaccination at a health station).
500,000 doses of measles vaccine, provided by a multinational corporation, will be used in this vaccination drive. The first batch is scheduled to be completed by April 30th, and the second by May 15th. The Ministry of Health will immediately distribute vaccines to localities to ensure timely implementation.
PGS.TS Nguyễn Thị Liên Hương, Deputy Minister of Health, stated that the target of Phase 3 is to administer one dose of the measles-containing vaccine to 95% of eligible children who have not been vaccinated or have not completed their vaccination schedule.
Target groups for the campaign include:
- Children aged 6 months and older who have not received vaccinations in the previous two campaigns.
- Children aged 6 months to under 9 months old who have not been vaccinated during the previous two campaigns in high-risk areas with measles outbreaks.
- Children aged 11 to 15 in high-risk or very high-risk communes/wards who have not received or completed vaccinations, or have unknown vaccination history or history of measles.
Facing the World Health Organization’s warning about the potential measles outbreak in Vietnam, and the actual situation in local areas, the Ministry of Health has organized two vaccination campaigns from late 2024 to early this year.
The 2024 campaign achieved a 97.1% success rate, and Phase 1 of the 2025 campaign reached 95.5%. The initial targets were children aged 1 to 10 and high-risk groups, later expanded to include children aged 6 months to 9 months in high-risk areas experiencing measles outbreaks.
On March 15th, the Prime Minister issued a directive to accelerate measles vaccination efforts. Following the Prime Minister’s guidance, the Ministry of Health implemented Phase 2 of the 2025 campaign, achieving 96.4% coverage, continuing vaccinations in children aged 6 months to 9 months and 1 to 10 years old.
