There are chances of harmful side effects increase when vaccinating a baby within the first 24 hours of birth, an expert said.

Nguyen Dinh Bang, former President of the National Institute for Control of Vaccine and Biologicals

On July 20, three newborn babies died at the General Hospital in Huong Hoa District in Quang Tri Province after being vaccinated for hepatitis B. While the public was still in shock, another newborn baby at General Hospital in Tuy Phong District, Binh Thuan Province, also died after being administered the same vaccine on July 21.

Nguyen Dinh Bang, former President of the National Institute for Control of Vaccine and Biologicals, gave an interview with DTiNews about the potential risks of the vaccine.

All three children turned pale and fainted just 10 minutes after they were given shots. Do you think that these deaths were caused by the vaccine's quality?

This is indeed a heartbreaking incident and a very strange case in Vietnam. All three children died after they were vaccinated at the same hospital. Mortality after vaccination has many potential causes, so we should wait for final results of the investigations before jumping to conclusions. I can't say that the vaccine itself caused the deaths yet because thousands of children have been vaccinated.

Why do we have to vaccinate babies within 24 hours of birth? Does this early vaccination have harmful side effects?

This is to make sure that 100% newborn babies are given shots. The vaccine for hepatitis B is extremely effective in preventing the transmission of the virus when the first dose is given within 24 hours of birth. Thus, it deals with cases where infants born to mothers who unknowingly carry the virus.

However, the period immediately following birth is a very critical time for a newborn. If the birth takes place in temperatures higher than 40 Celsius, the chances for complications increase. In such conditions, injecting the infant with foreign substances could pose more of a risk.

So we shouldn't vaccinate newborn babies within 24 hours after birth?

I have no objection to vaccinating one or two days after birth. But my personal opinion is that newborns are too young to be given injections.

Currently, we are giving vaccines against tuberculosis and hepatitis B. It's necessary to give vaccines against tuberculosis because babies can be easily infected via respiratory tract but hepatitis B is different. We should check to see whether the mothers carry the virus or not. If the mother doesn't have the virus then it's not necessary to vaccinate the babies so soon.

Are there any other countries that also give vaccines against hepatitis B to babies within 24 hours after birth?

The WHO recommends that babies be vaccinated within 24 hours after birth.

But like I said, I personally don't think that vaccines should be given when babies are so young.