A child is vaccinated at a health facility in HCM City. (Photo of the HCM City Centre for Disease Control)

HCDC earlier this month asked community health centres and health facilities citywide to resume the expanded immunisation programmes amid the declining cases of new COVID-19 infection and hospitalisation, said Nguyen Hong Tam, deputy director of HCDC.

Parents and child caregivers must strictly implement COVID-19 preventive measures when visiting the health facilities for immunisation services, Tam said at a meeting early this week.

Despite a wide disruption in the delivery and uptake of immunisation services caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, immunisation services for infants have been maintained at obstetrics hospitals, including vaccines against tuberculosis and hepatitis B.

HCDC regularly supplies vaccines against tuberculosis and hepatitis B and closely monitors the delivery of these vaccines.

The delayed vaccination schedules for one or several months will not largely affect a child’s immunity, he said.

He called on parents to take their children to health facilities to complete routine immunisations.
As of October 10, the city had administered more than 7.06 million first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and 5.22 million second doses, according to HCDC.