Two scenarios against COVID-19 can be deployed in the near future

On the morning of April 13, at the information session about injections COVID-19 vaccine For children 5-11 years old, Prof. Dr. Phan Trong Lan, Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine (Ministry of Health), said that the World Health Organization offers two scenarios for the pandemic. COVID-19 can happen.

In the first scenario, the Omicron strain will gradually reduce virulence, combine immunity from vaccination and infected people, and the number of deaths and serious illnesses will decrease. If this situation happens, Vietnam will transition to a new normal, social activities will gradually return to normal, thereby making COVID-19 an endemic disease. The health sector will focus on high-risk groups such as immunocompromised people, people with underlying diseases or the elderly…

In the second scenario, when the understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is not comprehensive, the possibility of the emergence of new variants may occur. While the new strain reduces the protective effect of the vaccine, causing the epidemic to spread rapidly and increase the risk of severe disease when infected. With this scenario, Vietnam will redeploy urgent anti-epidemic measures as it did before.

“Thus, we will develop and prepare for both scenarios, that is, consider COVID-19 as an endemic disease and be ready to implement preventive measures, not to be passive if new situations arise. , a new strain of virus”GS Lan said.

Vaccinate 5-11 year olds next week

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Duong Thi Hong, Deputy Director of the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Head of the National Expanded Immunization Office, said that the Ministry of Health had received the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines for children aged 5-11 years old due to Australian aid. This batch of vaccines is under quality control. It is expected that next week, the Ministry will deploy vaccination for children on a large scale. The injection will be done first with 6th graders, then gradually lower the age.

Two vaccines approved by the Ministry of Health for children are Pfizer (5-11 years old) and Moderna (6-11 years old). These vaccines have the same reactions as those given to children 12-17 years old, such as fever, fatigue, chills, diarrhea… In addition, children may experience less common reactions such as nausea, swelling and pain in the skin. injection site and very rare reactions such as anaphylaxis, myocarditis, and pericarditis.

Ms. Hong said that it should not be based on how low the reaction rate is, but always have to be alert and responsible for promptly handling all situations that occur during the injection process.

The Ministry of Health recommends that parents, after vaccination, need to let their children stay at the vaccination site for at least 30 minutes to monitor, detect and promptly handle serious reactions, if any. At the same time, families need to continuously monitor the child’s health for 28 days after the injection, especially the first 48 hours. In particular, parents should pay special attention to:

– Always have a support person beside the child 24/24 hours, at least in the first 3 days after the injection.

– Do not give children stimulants for at least the first 3 days after vaccination.

– Ensure adequate nutrition for children.

– If the child sees swelling, redness, pain, small lumps at the injection site, parents need to continue to monitor, if the swelling rapidly enlarges, go to the doctor immediately, do not apply, apply, or apply anything to the painful swelling.

– Regularly measure body temperature, if the child has a fever below 38.5 degrees Celsius, it is necessary to remove and loosen clothes, apply/wipe with a warm towel on the forehead, armpits, groin, drink enough water, not to catch cold. Take the child’s temperature again after 30 minutes.

If the child has a fever of 38.5 degrees Celsius or higher, parents need to use fever-reducing medicine as directed by the medical staff. If the fever cannot be stopped or the fever returns within 2 hours, parents should immediately notify the medical staff and go to the nearest medical facility.