Eighteen children under seven months old who were jabbed with COVID-19 vaccine by mistake in Hanoi earlier this month are in stable health conditions, Suc Khoe & Doi Song (Health & Life), which is the mouthpiece of the Ministry of Health, cited health experts as saying at a meeting on Tuesday evening.

Doctors from Saint Paul General Hospital in Ba Dinh District and the Vietnam National Children’s Hospital in Dong Da District have closely monitored the health condition of the 18 babies in question at the neonatology department at Saint Paul General Hospital over the past two weeks.

During the health monitoring process, the 18 were tested three times on the third, seventh, and 10th days since the detection of their COVID-19 injection on November 4. 

Results showed that the babies’ current health status is stable, according to the experts.

They eat, enjoy milk feeding, sleep, and play well.

Their inflammatory reactions and swellings at the injection site have been gone. 

Only some of them still have digestive disorders, a mild runny nose, atopic dermatitis, and eczema.

At Tuesday’s meeting, after reviewing and discussing the babies’ clinical status, the experts agreed that it is necessary to continue monitoring their health at Saint Paul General Hospital. 

On the 21st-day milestone, doctors will retest and specifically evaluate the health status of each baby. 

After that, they will seek consultation from a professional council set up by the Hanoi Department of Health for next steps.

At a previous meeting, medical staff planned to discharge the 18 infants once their health conditions become stable.

The babies would have their health checked once a month afterward until the end of 12 months since the wrong injection.

Health workers at a medical station in Quoc Oai District, Hanoi made a serious mistake by giving the 18 babies Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine doses, instead of a vaccine designed for a routine inoculation program for children between two and six months old, on November 3.

The case was discovered the following day and reported to the municipal Department of Health and the Ministry of Health, which looked for consultation from leading professors in the country and medical experts from the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund.

In Vietnam, the country’s health ministry has only issued guidelines on COVID-19 vaccination for children aged 12 to 17. 

Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long requested authorities and related units to strictly deal with the medical staff involved in the said vaccination incident but there has been no further news of it ever since.

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