KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 10): Private hospitals and clinics will finally get the 5-in-1 vaccine for infants, after months of not having access to it due to a global supply shortage.

Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the ministry agreed to give 10% of the vaccines arriving in the country to private medical facilities.

"It will be coordinated by the supplier. Hence, we do expect the vaccine to be available in some private facilities but the amount will be limited," he said.

Private hospitals and clinics currently do not have access to the vaccine due to the limited stock in the country.

The 5-in-1 vaccine is administered in four doses to children at age two months, three months, five months and 18 months.

It prevents five different childhood diseases: diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough (pertussis), polio and Haemophilus influenza type B.

Some of the patients in private hospitals have tried getting the vaccination for their babies at government hospitals and clinics, only to be told that priority is given to babies born in government facilities.

"Tax-paying private patients are being unfairly punished for giving birth in private hospitals.

"My wife tried calling several Klinik Kesihatan as well as government-linked hospitals only to be told that priority is given to the patients of Klinik Kesihatan and not from private hospitals.

"The private hospital our son is born in does not have stock of the vaccine for many months now and our son is due for the first dose of this vaccination," said the 35-year-old father of a two-month-old boy.

He said the government clinic took down their details and told him and his wife that they had to wait indefinitely as priority is given to their patients.

"A government-linked hospital declined to even take down our details and said that the vaccine stock they have is only reserved for babies born in their hospital," he added.

Dr Noor Hisham, however, said it was the ministry's policy "that our services are open to all in the population".

"When the shortage of the vaccine occurred, a circular was sent to all states instructing that they must accept all children who come for vaccination.

"This is important to ensure that the herd immunity is preserved in order to prevent an outbreak of vaccine preventable diseases.

"We will continuously convey this message to our staff in the health clinics," he said.

He also said that the stock in the country depended on the importation of the vaccine by the supplier, Pharmaniaga Logistics Sdn Bhd, which holds the tender to supply the vaccine to the ministry.

"On the other hand, they depend on the approval and exportation from the manufacturer.

"Demand, supply and cost offer interplay in this global shortage.

"At the moment, supply is available in ministry's health clinics but it is running low.

"We expect new supply to arrive next week but the volume is below the ministry’s expectations," he said.

According to Dr Noor Hisham, the cycle time for manufacturing vaccine containing acellular pertussis and inactivated polio antigens is between 18 and 36 months.

"Recently there has been an increase in control test rejection rates which has impacted the release of the vaccine batches.

"Hence, this has affected the global supply of the vaccine," he said.