Government’s 5-in-1 vaccine out of stock
A vaccine given to babies and children to protect them from five infections is currently out of stock due to contractual issues, the Health Ministry said. However, the five-in-one vaccine, as it is known, is expected to be back on the shelves next...
A vaccine given to babies and children to protect them from five infections is currently out of stock due to contractual issues, the Health Ministry said.
However, the five-in-one vaccine, as it is known, is expected to be back on the shelves next week.
“Postponement of vaccination for a short time should not cause undue worry,” a spokesman for the ministry said.
The vaccine, protecting against Diphteria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Polio and Heamophilus Influenza type B, is usually given to babies at two, three and four months of age.
Further boosters are then given at one and a half years, together with the Hepatitis Bvaccine. A diphtheria and polio vaccine is given at 16 years of age.
A concerned parent phoned this newspaper yesterday after the Mosta Health Centre called him to postpone his vaccination appointment due on Tuesday, due to lack of supply of the vaccine.
The appointment had already been postponed for Edward Bugeja’s seven-month-old daughter three months ago for the same reason.
This time round the health centre staff asked him to call again in two weeks’ time to check the availability of the injection and arrange an appointment.
Unwilling to keep his daughter unvaccinated any longer, Mr Bugeja took her to a private clinic, at a cost of €110.
“What about people who can’t afford to do the same?” he questioned.
The ministry, however, said that such postponement should not be of any concern and the department was expecting supplies to be replenished next week.