At the press brief
Today afternoon, the Ministry of Health had a press conference to inform about the Covid-19 vaccine for children from 5 to under 12 years old.
Currently, the first batch of Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine has arrived in Vietnam and is being tested for quality at the Institute for Testing of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals. The vaccination rollout is scheduled to start next week. Sixth graders will be vaccinated first then younger children will be later.
Accordingly, at the press brief, Prof. Dr. Phan Trong Lan, Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health said that through the survey, an estimated 11.8 million children aged 5 to under 12-year-olds must be injected with the Covid-19 vaccine nationwide.
However, of 11.8 million children, about 3.6 million children have been infected with Covid-19 and 8.2 million children are not infected with Covid-19. Therefore, in the first batch, children who do not have Covid-19 will be vaccinated and receive two doses of the vaccine. It is expected that the vaccination rollout will be completed by the end of the second quarter of this year.
Regarding the quality of vaccines, Duong Thi Hong, deputy head of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, the first batch Moderna vaccine funded by the Australian Government is being tested for quality at the Institute for Testing of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals and will be completed today.
According to Associate Professor Duong Thi Hong, the Pfizer vaccine and the Moderna vaccine are authorized to be used in the Covid-19 vaccination campaign for children from 5 to under 12 years old. The interval between two injections is for weeks.
Notably, the Ministry of Health required two injections of the same vaccine for children, not mixed with any mRNA vaccine. Particularly for the injection dose, the Pfizer vaccine with a dose of 02.ml will be injected intramuscularly while the Moderna vaccine will be also immunized intramuscularly and is equal to 1/2 of the basic adult dose (equivalent to 0.25ml), the same as the booster dose of the adult vaccine.
For children’s safety, Dr. Duong Thi Hong recommended that only healthy children should be vaccinated; accordingly, if a child shows signs of suspicion of Covid-19 or fatigue, parents should not take them to medical clinics for vaccination.
Furthermore, parents should fully declare their children’s health status to medical staff before injecting to ensure the safety of the child. Additionally, after the injection, it is necessary to closely monitor the child's health in the first three days and if the child has any abnormal health symptoms, it is necessary to take the child to a medical facility immediately.
When it comes to vaccination for children in the above age group who have been infected with Covid-19, Dr. Le Kien Ngai, Head of the Department of Infection Prevention and Control in the National Children's Hospital said three months after Covid-19 infected children got the disease, their parents should take their children to infirmaries for getting the vaccines because children who have had Covid-19 can still get it again.
According to the Ministry of Health, the Northern Province of Quang Ninh will be the first locality to launch a vaccination campaign for children from 5 to under 12 years of age. Then, the vaccination rollout for this group of children will be carried out simultaneously in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and other cities and provinces next week.
