Indonesia launches pentavalent vaccine

In an attempt to reduce the children-under-five mortality rate and expand the coverage of the national vaccination program, the government has launched the pentavalent vaccine, a vaccine that combines five antigens — Diphteria (DPT), Pertussis, Tetanus, Hepatitis B (HB) and Haemophilus Influenzae type b (Hib) — in one single shot for newborn babies. Health Minister Nafsiah Mboi said on Thursday that with the new vaccine, the ministry aimed to expand the coverage of the vaccination program, because with only one injection for five antigens, it would be more convenient for both the baby and parent, while also lowering the cost of the immunization. With the current vaccine used, a baby must get injected nine times for DPT, HB and Hib. The pentavalent vaccine reduced the number of injections to only three, with an interval of one month. “The basic vaccination program that previously only focused on preventing seven diseases, would also be improved...