Children in Mongyai Township, northern Shan State, are missing out on vaccinations because there is a shortage of vaccines.
The junta-controlled Mongyai People Hospital in Mongyai Town is running out of vaccines for children under the age of two, meaning that many children living in Mongyai Town who should be vaccinated remain unvaccinated. The situation is even worse in rural areas of the township.
To make matters worse, the electricity supply is very infrequent in Mongyai Town and most of the time there is no electricity, which makes it very hard to store vaccines at the required low temperatures. This has meant that vaccines can only be ordered in small quantities that can be used before they spoil because there is no refrigeration. This has led to a shortage of vaccines in Mongyai Township.
Due to this inadequate supply of vaccines the plan is to initially only vaccinate children in Mongyai Town.
However, families of children from villages in Mongyai Township paid hefty tolls at junta checkpoints to get their children to Mongyai Town so that they could receive vaccines, only to find out that their children would not be vaccinated. The parents said this was very unfair and discriminated against their children.
A mother from Mongyai Town said: “We understand that, for now, children in the downtown area will be given priority, and children in the villages will be vaccinated next time. However, we don't know when that will be, which is very disappointing for the families of village children who came to Mongyai Town to get vaccinated.”
During the second phase of Operation 1027 there was fighting in Mongyai Township that weakened the administrative structure of the township and destroyed infrastructure such as the electricity distribution network. Also, the junta has set up a temporary Western Regional Military Command in Mongyai Town after it lost the original Western Regional Military Command in Lashio Town to the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in July 2024.
Though Mongyai township is under the control of the junta, the Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) also has a strong presence in the township. It has no agreement with the junta but both the junta and SSPP are active in Mongyai Township and do not confront each other. Healthcare in the township is currently being administered by the junta, but due to the shortage of medicines patients are having to be transferred to other townships in southern Shan State.
A resident of Mongyai Town said to NMG: “The town's healthcare system is barely functioning, [it works] just enough to be considered operational. There is almost no electricity, so all other sectors are suffering. Also, it's not clear who is actually running the territory—the Military Council [junta] or the SSPP. The vaccination drive seems to have been carried out solely to boost their [the junta’s] reputation.”
Previously in Mongyai Town, in November 2024, there was a similar vaccine shortage. At that time many of the town’s children who needed to receive vaccines had to travel to Kyethi Town in Loilem District, Shan State for their vaccinations.
