Children receive hand, foot and mouth disease vaccination at a VNVC centre. Nearly 25,000 doses of vaccine have been administered to children across the country just five days after the vaccine was introduced. — Photo courtesy of VNVC

HCM CITY — Nearly 25,000 doses of vaccine against hand, foot and mouth disease have been administered to children across Việt Nam just five days after the vaccine was introduced, reflecting strong demand from families seeking early protection ahead of the disease season.

According to the VNVC Vaccination System, nearly 25,000 doses of the hand, foot and mouth disease vaccine have been safely administered at nearly 300 centres nationwide during the first five days of the rollout.

Many families took their children for vaccination on the first day the vaccine became available in Việt Nam, including children who had previously contracted hand, foot and mouth disease and, in some cases, had been hospitalised several times for the disease.

More than 80 per cent of parents proactively reserved the full vaccination schedule for their children, highlighting growing concern about the common childhood disease, which can recur and currently has no specific treatment.

In HCM City, 32-year-old Bảo Ngọc took her four-year-old son to receive the vaccine at the VNVC Phạm Văn Chiêu centre in Gò Vấp Ward. She said her son had suffered a severe case of hand, foot and mouth disease when he was one year old, developing heart and lung failure caused by EV71 and requiring dialysis and ECMO treatment at Children’s Hospital No. 1.

“Seeing my son’s condition deteriorate so quickly while I could do nothing was truly traumatic. The disease can recur, so when I learned that a vaccine was available, I did not hesitate and took him for vaccination immediately,” Ngọc said.

In response to the high demand, VNVC has mobilised resources across its nationwide network, including more than 12,000 doctors, nurses and medical staff.

Its cold-storage system, cold chain and refrigerated vehicles meet Good Storage Practice (GSP) standards, with capacity to store more than 400 million vaccine doses at the same time and transport them continuously to localities nationwide.

Vaccination centres have also increased staffing, expanded vaccination areas and extended service hours, including operating through lunch breaks, to accommodate the large number of children seeking vaccination while maintaining vaccination safety requirements. — VNS