Parents of newborn babies in Bedfordview say they live in fear for their children’s lives.
This after news broke that private health practitioners in the area have reported a shortage of Hexaxim, the six-in-one vaccine administered to babies between the ages of six and 14 weeks.
A mother, who did not want to be named, said she fears that her baby is not protected and is at a higher risk of getting illnesses should there be an outbreak.
The spokesperson for the Gauteng Department of Health, Mr Steve Mabona, said although the department is unaware of any vaccine shortages in the Ekurhuleni region, there has been a shortage of supply of Hexaxim. This resulted because of a shortage of supply from the supplier.
“This resulted in the minimal quantities being supplied to the facilities. At this stage we have not received any specific complaint from any of our other facilities,” said Mr Mabona.
A resident close to the matter said private practitioners have been experiencing shortages since December 2015.
“These practitioners order and collect state stock from their local clinics and then vaccinate their patients, but for months now they have been struggling to get access,” said the resident.
The Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM) said its health facilities experienced a shortage of Hexaxim vaccines in February 2016.
Speaking for the municipality, Mr Zweli Dlamini said over the past year the immunisation schedule has changed to accommodate new vaccines and has created a delay from the suppliers due to increased demand, resulting in clinics periodically experiencing vaccines supply shortages.
He said as of March 2016, all vaccines have been available.
The vaccine immunises babies against diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio and Hepatitis B.
As of April 7, at the time of going to press, some private practitioners were still without stock and reported having a backlog of over 30 babies.
