Covid-19 vaccine priority for pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers

According to the Ministry of Health's guidelines, pregnant women from 13 weeks and above can consider getting the Covid-19 vaccine, and get it at a medical facility that can provide emergency obstetric care. All vaccines currently available in Vietnam can be given to pregnant women and breastfeeding women, except for the Sputnik V vaccine, which is contraindicated for this group.

Units must also ensure the provision of medical examination and treatment services, reproductive health care, obstetrics and newborn care, and avoid disruption of the service supply chain in the context of the epidemic.

Many provinces and cities have deployed Covid-19 vaccination for pregnant and breastfeeding women. Hung Vuong Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City hasstart injectionfrom last week

About 2 months ago, the number of pregnant women with Covid-19 was very low, but recently the number of hospitalizations due to Covid-19 at Hung Vuong Hospital has been very high. Pregnant women with Covid-19 are prone to severe illness. They need more oxygen than normal, so when they have Covid-19, their lungs are damaged, which can easily cause difficulty breathing and rapid respiratory failure. If not intervened promptly, it will endanger the lives of both mother and baby.

Hung Vuong Hospital staff inject Covid-19 vaccine for pregnant woman, August 12. Photo: Provided by the hospital

According to the National Immunization Portal at 8:30 a.m. on August 21, the total number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered nationwide was more than 16.7 million. To date, Hanoi (including the capital's health sector and central hospitals, institutes, and units in the area) has administered more than 2.3 million doses, reaching more than 73% of the more than 3.1 million vaccine doses allocated.

Ho Chi Minh City has been allocated more than 5.5 million doses of vaccine, and has administered nearly 5.3 million doses, reaching more than 96%.