Children 2-5 months old nationwide are given free expensive vaccine to prevent rotavirus disease

In the first 7 months of the year, over 570,000 children aged 2-5 months received free rotavirus diarrhea vaccine.

Medical staff at Tan Thinh Medical Station give baby Nguyen Phuong Anh (over 2 months old) a rotavirus vaccine - Photo: HONG HA

According to the representative of the National Expanded Immunization Program, this year is the first year that this vaccine has been included in the expanded immunization program. To date, 27/34 provinces and cities have been provided with rotavirus vaccine (oral) for children aged 2 months and 5 months. By January 2026, children nationwide in the above age group will be given the vaccine for free.

At the rotavirus vaccine implementation monitoring meeting on August 7 in Lao Cai province, Ms. Ha Thi Mai Huong, head of Tan Thinh medical station (Lao Cai) said that before the program's vaccine was available, only a very few children had the conditions to be vaccinated because the service vaccine cost from 400,000 - 700,000 VND/dose.

Since December 2024, the station has been provided with rotavirus vaccine, and all children of the right age have been vaccinated. This is a fairly "safe" vaccine, so after 8 months of use, there have been no cases of unusually severe reactions.

Rotavirus vaccine has been included in the regular immunization program at commune and ward health stations (except for 7 provinces and cities that will implement it from January 2026). With the addition of rotavirus vaccine, children under 1 year old are now provided with free vaccines to prevent 10 infectious diseases.

The National Expanded Immunization Program will add a pneumococcal vaccine in late 2025 and a HPV vaccine (a vaccine that prevents cervical cancer) in 2026. These two vaccines will also be provided on a pilot basis to children in remote provinces and cities before being widely deployed from 2027.

These are also vaccines with high vaccination costs. If there is no free vaccine from the upcoming program, young parents will have to pay from 1.5 to 3 million VND/HPV injection, each dose consists of 2-3 injections. With pneumococcal vaccine for children, depending on the number of vaccine strains that can be prevented, the price of the service vaccine is from 1.2 to 1.5 million VND/injection.

Rotavirus is the most common cause of acute diarrhea in winter, the disease is mainly transmitted through the fecal-oral route. This disease is easily spread because the virus can survive in the natural environment, such as on contact surfaces of toys, tables and chairs, in water and on the skin...

Doctors at the National Children's Hospital said that children with diarrhea often vomit a lot on the first day and then it eases up when they start having loose stools and a slight fever. The stools will then be watery, possibly green, with mucus but no blood.

Due to vomiting and frequent loose stools, children are susceptible to dehydration and rapid exhaustion if not cared for promptly.

RED RIVER

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tre-2-5-thang-tuoi-ca-nuoc-duoc-uong-mien-phi-vac-xin-dat-tien-phong-benh-do-vi-rut-rota-20250807175747423.htm