The Hanoi Preventive Health Center on Sunday opened a free-of-charge measles vaccination point for children, aged six and under, in a bid to prevent the spread of the disease that has killed 119 kids since it recurred in Vietnam late last year.

>> Photos: Parents care for children with measles in Vietnam>> Parents rush to get babies vaccinated for measles>> Occupying 50% of measles mortality, Vietnam’s capital yet to declare epidemic >> Over 7,000 children catch measles in Vietnam; at least 111 die: report This is a precautionary effort given the danger of the contagion, as Vietnamese health officials now instruct that only children aged between nine and 24 months be vaccinated against the illness. The free vaccination point is located at the department’s office, at 70 Nguyen Chi Thanh Street in Dong Da District, the same place where another vaccination point that charges children for measles vaccination is in operation. “Last night, I read a piece of news in a newspaper that children, six years old or younger, will be given free vaccination against measles, so this morning I took my three-year-old daughter there for the second shot,” Nguyen Ba Thanh Binh, a local resident, told Tuoi Tre on Sunday. Binh said his daughter was given the first shot when she was nine months old. Doctors told him such a long gap between the two shots will still not affect the effectiveness of the measles vaccination, Binh added. Yesterday Tuoi Tre reporters said that about 50 children were vaccinated at the free point. Dr. Hoang Duc Hanh, deputy director of the Hanoi Health Department, said this free vaccination facility will operate until the end of this month and whether it will be maintained will depend on the public’s demand by that time. Many free vaccination points in other localities serve children under two only, but the Hanoi place also offers free vaccine shots to those of up to 6 years of age, Dr. Hanh said.Tuoi Tre also found on Sunday that many parents were willing to pay for their children’s vaccinations at the other point in Hanoi despite the opening of the gratis one. 22 localities with low vaccination rates Vietnam’s Ministry of Health has released a list of 22 provinces and cities where less than 50 percent of children from 9 months old to under two, the ages at which they are required to be vaccinated against measles, have been given vaccination. Most notable in these localities are southern Binh Phuoc Province, where only 8.21 percent of children under two have been vaccinated against the ailment, while low rates have also been seen in other provinces such as Long An (15.87 percent), Cao Bang (18.15 percent), and Dong Nai (27.35 percent). Meanwhile, Hanoi has vaccinated 84 percent of children under two and it is expected to complete its vaccination campaign that aims to cover all of two-year-olds in the capital on April 25, 2014, Dr. Hanh said.Under-one-month-old babies still contract measles After visiting a few hospitals to examine efforts to combat measles and its complications on Sunday, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Viet Tien said that he found out children under one month old still contract measles. This is a strange phenomenon, Tien said, adding that the ministry is considering whether to lower the age at which children are required to be vaccinated against the disease. Talking to Tuoi Tre about this issue, Nguyen Tran Hien, head of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, said that a state-level study on this age has been launched. “This study will contribute to the improvement of the efficiency of our combating against the infection in the future,” Hien said.

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