The first locality in the country to vaccinate children from 5 to 11 years old against Covid-19

This morning (April 14), at Tran Quoc Toan Secondary School, Ha Long City, Quang Ninh, the Ministry of Health coordinated with the People's Committee of Quang Ninh province to launch the campaign.Covid-19 vaccinationfor children from 5 to 11 years old and respond to Immunization Week 2022. The ceremony was attended by Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son, leaders of Quang Ninh Provincial People's Committee and related units.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son visited and encouraged students during the first vaccination campaign for children nationwide.

At the ceremony, Deputy Minister Nguyen Truong Son said that "Immunization week" is an initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) on protecting lives with vaccines through vaccination, which has been widely implemented since 2011. This year's Immunization Week was launched by the WHO Western Pacific Region with the theme "Vaccines bring long life to everyone".

The two Covid-19 vaccines given to children aged 5 to under 12 are the Pfizer vaccine and the Moderna vaccine.

"With a high vaccination coverage rate for high-risk groups and ages, Vietnam is qualified to continue expanding vaccination targets and deploying vaccination for other groups, including children aged 5 to 11 years old. This is one of the key tasks of the health sector in 2022," said Mr. Nguyen Truong Son at the ceremony.

Right after the launching ceremony, today 160 6th grade students of Tran Quoc Toan Secondary School will be vaccinated with the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine. Before the injection, the students will be given milk to drink, then screened. When they meet all the requirements, the medical staff will inject the vaccine into their arms and then sit down to rest for a 30-minute check-up.

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Duong Thi Hong - Deputy Director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology: Covid-19 vaccination for children aged 5 - under 12 years old will be carried out first for grade 6 children, then the age will be gradually reduced. Currently, there are 2 types of Covid-19 vaccines injected for children aged 5 - under 12 years old: Pfizer vaccine and Moderna vaccine. The interval between 2 injections is 4 weeks. The Ministry of Health requires only 2 injections of the same type of vaccine, not mixed with any mRNA vaccine.

What do experts recommend about monitoring children aged 5 - under 12 years old after Covid-19 vaccination?

Regarding reactions after Covid-19 vaccination for children aged 5 - under 12 years old, Deputy Director Duong Thi Hong said that the reactions after vaccination for these children are similar to those for the group aged 12 - 17 years old.

Specifically, the vaccinated person may experience headache, diarrhea, joint pain, muscle pain, pain at the injection site, exhaustion, chills, fever (higher frequency for the second dose), swelling at the injection site, exhaustion, headache, redness and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain and chills.

According to experts, some common and unusual reactions that may occur include fever, rash, cyanosis, fatigue, lethargy, etc., which may occur after 4-8 hours. These conditions usually decrease after the first 1-2 days. Therefore, if these symptoms show signs of worsening, parents should contact and take their child to the nearest medical facility.

Regarding post-vaccination care for children, Dr. Le Kien Ngai - Head of the Department of Infection Prevention and Control - National Children's Hospital also pointed out the time frames that families need to pay attention to: 30 minutes, 24 hours, 1 week and 28 days.

For children returning to school 3 days after vaccination, families and teachers will need to work closely together to ensure the child's health.

Specifically, children should avoid strenuous exercise during this time. Physical activities must be adjusted to avoid confusion with post-vaccination reactions.

Thanh Hien