Vaccination Week April 24 - 30: Children need to be fully vaccinated

Officials and doctors from the Provincial Center for Disease Control check vaccines allocated in the Expanded Immunization Program.

Vaccines are a medical achievement that helps repel many diseases that used to be a nightmare such as polio, measles, and tetanus. This is the key to creating community immunity. According to the Provincial Center for Disease Control, the province is currently providing 12 types of vaccines in the Expanded Immunization Program. The vaccines are distributed to 138 commune and ward health stations and 17 outpatient stations located in remote areas, creating conditions for people to easily access free vaccines. Also in March, in the face of the measles outbreak, the Provincial Center for Disease Control reviewed and compiled a list of children aged 6 to under 9 months and 6-10 years old who have not received enough doses of measles vaccine. Immediately after receiving the vaccine from the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, the province deployed and completed the measles vaccination campaign for over 12,000 children before March 31.

Vaccination for infants and young children is an active and effective disease prevention measure, while also reducing the risk of complications and injuries when children unfortunately get sick. Ms. Hoang Thi Lam, Dong Vang village, Yen Nguyen commune (Chiem Hoa) shared: during her pregnancy, doctors reminded and advised her to get the necessary injections during pregnancy. Up to now, her son is nearly 2 years old, he has been vaccinated correctly and fully according to the instructions on the vaccination book. During the expanded vaccination campaigns as well as giving children vitamin A, village health workers always come to remind families with young children to take their children to the health station for health check-ups and to get vaccinated and take micronutrients properly.

According to Dr. Nguyen Thanh Loan, Secretary of the Expanded Immunization Program, Provincial Center for Disease Control, in general, vaccines are safe. The initial health protection benefits from vaccines are much greater than the risks that may occur when vaccinated. Normally, some vaccines can cause temporary side effects such as pain, swelling at the injection site, mild fever... However, these reactions can all recover on their own. Before children are vaccinated at medical facilities, they must be checked by a doctor for their health status or side effects, if any. After the vaccination, children are also monitored and their health is re-evaluated before leaving.

Children are screened before vaccination at Yen Lam Commune Health Station (Ham Yen).

In recent times, the province has actively implemented and improved the effectiveness of the Expanded Immunization Program. Thanks to that, the province's vaccination rate has always met the target, and for many consecutive years, there have been no vaccine-protected diseases in the province. Along with that, the rate of children contracting infectious diseases has decreased, and the ability to treat and recover when unfortunately contracting the disease is high. In 2024, the rate of full vaccination for children under 1 year old will reach 95.5%; tetanus vaccination for pregnant women will reach 91.6%.

In some remote communes, the work of mobilizing ethnic minorities to vaccinate their children faces many difficulties. Doctor Do Thi Tam, Head of Yen Thuan Commune Health Station (Ham Yen) said: In some villages, due to backward customs and practices, people do not fully understand the importance of vaccinating children, so many families have not proactively taken their children to get vaccinated. The staff and doctors of the health station have mobilized and propagated to the people in many forms such as integrating through village meetings, distributing leaflets, calling on prestigious people to mobilize... Vaccination points outside the station have also been deployed to create conditions for children in remote villages to be fully vaccinated.

In addition to monitoring and giving children full and timely booster shots of vaccines in the expanded immunization program, doctors also recommend that people should get additional vaccinations such as seasonal flu, chickenpox, diseases caused by pneumococcus, meningitis... to ensure effective disease prevention.

Source: https://baotuyenquang.com.vn/tuan-le-tiem-chung-24-30-4-tre-can-duoc-tiem-du-cac-loai-vac-xin-210270.html