[Parents must read] Children's vaccination strategy

What vaccines should children get?

At present, my country divides vaccines into two categories:

Category 1 vaccines: “immunization program vaccines”

The government provides these vaccines to citizens free of charge, and citizens should receive them according to government regulations. Children from other countries have the same right to be vaccinated as local children. As long as there are no contraindications, children should be vaccinated in a timely manner. If these vaccines are not given, it may affect the baby's admission to nurseries, kindergartens, and schools.

The following vaccines are available free of charge for children of appropriate age: BCG vaccine, polio vaccine, hepatitis B vaccine, diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine, pertussis vaccine, hepatitis A vaccine, measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, group A meningococcal vaccine, group A and group C meningococcal vaccine, and Japanese encephalitis vaccine.

Category II vaccines: “non-immunisation programme vaccines”

Other vaccines that citizens receive at their own expense and knowingly and voluntarily. Although the second-class vaccines need to be paid for by the citizens, they are equally important for protecting the health of children. The World Health Organization recommends two vaccines as the top priority for children: pneumonia vaccine and Haemophilus influenzae vaccine (Hib vaccine).

Recommended Class II vaccines: influenza vaccine, varicella vaccine, hand, foot and mouth disease vaccine, rotavirus vaccine, etc.

New adjustments have been made to the children's vaccine immunization program

In March this year, the National Health Commission issued the "National Immunization Program Vaccine Childhood Immunization Program and Instructions (2021 Edition)", which has five major changes compared with the previous version:

Change 1: The age for booster shots for those who have not completed the required doses of vaccination under the national immunization program is adjusted from “<14 years old” to “<18 years old”.

Change 2: The left and right thighs are clarified as optional vaccination sites. When multiple vaccines need to be injected at the same time, they can be injected into the left and right upper arms and left and right thighs respectively.

Change three: It is clarified that the following situations are not contraindications to vaccination: A. Physiological and breast milk jaundice; B. History of simple febrile convulsions; C. Stable epilepsy control; D. Congenital genetic metabolic diseases (congenital hypothyroidism, phenylketonuria, trisomy 21 syndrome, etc.); E. Stable brain diseases, congenital heart diseases, congenital infections (syphilis, cytomegalovirus and rubella virus), etc.

Change 4: The immunization procedures for polio vaccine and measles, mumps and rubella vaccine have been adjusted.

Change 5: The 2021 version of the immunization program recommends that the time for the first dose of hepatitis B vaccine for newborns born to mothers with positive surface antigen or unknown mothers be adjusted from "within 24 hours after birth" to "within 12 hours after birth."

Clearly define “low birth weight” for hepatitis B vaccination as birth weight