Five-in-one vaccine will be given free to babies over two months old under the National Expanded Vaccination Program as of June 2010, revealed Nguyen Tran Hien, director of the Central Institute for Hygiene and Epidemiology.

The five-in-one vaccine against diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, hepatitis B and Hib is supported by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) Partners Forum. Around 1.5 million Vietnamese children will be vaccinated annually with this vaccine.

Kids will be vaccinated in a series of three shoots. The first will be injected in the second month after birth and the two others will come one month later.

Previously, children were only vaccinated at no cost for four diseases - diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus and hepatitis B. The charge for Hib vaccine is high, so it has not been available for all kids.

Medical experts hope the vaccine will reduce accidents after inoculation, as it takes less shots.

PV