According to a report from the department, the incident took place on November 3 at Yen Son Communal Healthcare Centre which was organising vaccinations for children aged 2 to 6 months. They planned to give the children the 5-in-1 or 6-in-1 vaccines to treat whooping cough, diphtheria, tetanus, polio, hepatitis B, and Haemophilic influenza type B diseases.
"Due to negligence, the medical staff mistakenly gave the Pfizer-BioNtech Covid-19 Vaccine to 18 children," the report said. "The children were then taken to Saint Paul General Hospital for surveillance.
The children were then taken to Saint Paul General Hospital for surveillance.
The department has reported and asked for consultancy from leading local and international health experts from the World Health Organisation and UNICEF.
At present, the children's health is stable, some have had symptoms such as fever, redness, swelling at the injection site, which doctors said were common side effects of the vaccine, and there have been no cases of anaphylaxis.
Authorities have suspended five medical staff members at the Yen Son Communal Healthcare Centre to review their responsibilities and investigate the child vaccination process.
Hanoi has not yet started giving the Covid-19 vaccine for children. According to the city's plan, children aged 12-17 will receive the Covid-19 vaccine from the fourth quarter of this year. The exact time for vaccination would depend on the Ministry of Health’s vaccine distribution for the city, with the priority to be given to children aged 16-17 first.