Illustrative photo
Doctor Nguyen Minh Tien, Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Children's Hospital, noted that the Omicron variant has a rapid spread, especially among unvaccinated children.
The Ministry of Health has assessed that early vaccination not only helps protect children but can also help protect family members, including those who are not eligible for vaccination or can become seriously ill if infected. Children aged 5-11 years who are at risk of severe Covid-19 should be considered a priority group for vaccination against Covid-19, as in other age groups.
However, through the survey, parents remain hesitant when it comes to giving their children the Covid vaccine because they are afraid that vaccination will affect their children's future health, especially myocarditis and reproductive function.
Dr. Tien emphasized that studies have shown that in addition to side effects, it has been proven that vaccines, in general, help prevent diseases in the community and avoid the risk of severe disease.
Vietnam has sought experience and advice about the type of Covid-19 vaccine given to children from other countries in the world and recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) on safety and good immunogenicity. in many different countries. In addition, vaccines that will be used must go through very strict quality control processes. Vaccines for children are vaccines of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna that have been approved for use by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), proving that the safety of the Covid-19 vaccines in children is not different from that of adults.
Especially, to protect children against new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, vaccination is the best option. Parents just need to monitor some common post-reactions such as swelling and pain at the injection site, fatigue, muscle pain, joint pain, low fever...
According to Dr. Nguyen Minh Tien, studies around the world show that the severe reactions after vaccination are very low, there is no difference between children and adults, and the protective effects of vaccines are very high. Therefore, he advised parents not to hesitate to take their children to medical centers for vaccination.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health’s report, the city currently has 898,537 children from 5 to under 12 years old. 885,730 of them go to school and 12,807 children are being raised in social sponsoring facilities and have not yet attended school. This round of vaccination is also carried out like the previous vaccination for children aged 12 to under 18 years old, but the health sector must be more careful because the vaccination is given to children at a younger age.
Therefore, the injection rate is expected to be slower, at about 50 children a shift; it is expected that vaccination will last for one month. Currently, Ho Chi Minh City has conducted a list of children with birthdays from April 1, 2017, or earlier.
Nguyen Hong Tam, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control (HCDC), said that on March 28, the Ministry of Health had a document directing the Covid-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to under 12.
Accordingly, the local Department of Health is required to coordinate with the City Department of Education and Training to make a list of children below 12 in addition to the formulation of a plan for vaccination.
Associate Professor Do Van Dung from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy said that the implementation of vaccination for children from 5 to under 12 years old at this time is suitable for the domestic and international situation. In fact, medical workers in the US and Europe have been administered the vaccine to children from 5 to under 12 years old and the results show that they are safe and effective.
Currently, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended the administration of the Covid-19 vaccine for children from 5 years old to protect them from getting the coronavirus disease.
