The Health Ministry is planning to add two new vaccines to the National Immunization Program, said Dr. Mohammad Mehdi Gouya, director general of the ministry’s Center for Diseases Control and Prevention.
“Vaccination for rotavirus (a contagious virus that can cause gastroenteritis or inflammation of the stomach and intestines) and pneumococcal (a lung disease) will be imported,” he told ISNA.
The National Immunization Program has played an important role in controlling, elimination and eradication of major infectious diseases. But the current immunization program does not provide vaccines for the two mentioned viruses as well as Hemophilus influenza type b (Hib), varicella, and influenza.
“There are also issues regarding use of oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) instead of inactivated vaccine (IPV) that we plan to overcome gradually under a step-by-step program,” he added.
