Ministry of Health awards contract to purchase 75 doses of hepatitis B vaccine for nearly 500 euros

The Department of Health, Social Services, Minors and Equality has communicated through the Public Sector Contracting Platform the award of the contract that will receive a total of 75 doses of hepatitis B vaccine. Initially, the basic bid amount for the contract was €495.97, with an execution period of 3 months. In this regard, the contract has been awarded to Glaxosmithkline SA for a total amount of €495.97. Furthermore, only one offer was received in this regard.

Hepatitis B vaccines are inactivated vaccines; therefore, they do not contain live virus or genetic material, so they cannot produce disease, but they do retain the ability to stimulate the production of defenses (antibodies) against the disease.

The hepatitis B vaccine is very safe. The most common adverse reactions are injection site localization (pain, redness and swelling), headache, fever, gastrointestinal symptoms (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain) or irritability.

About hepatitis B

It is a serious infectious disease caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) that affects and permanently damages the liver, leading to cirrhosis and liver cancer.

It presents with systemic symptoms such as: fatigue, general malaise, nausea, and loss of appetite. There may be some fever, yellowing of the skin and eye conjunctiva, itching of the skin all over the body, etc.

Sometimes, viruses can invade the body without causing symptoms of illness.

The highest incidence is among those aged 15 to 34 years.