In late July, Hien, 36, residing in Tan Nhon Phu ward, Ho Chi Minh City, took her 13-year-old daughter for an HPV vaccine and her 7-year-old son for a 3-in-1 vaccine protecting against measles, mumps, and rubella. As garment factory workers, she and her husband earn a combined income of over 20 million dong monthly, including overtime pay.

Previously, to save money, she had her children vaccinated through the Expanded Program on Immunization at the local health station. In early 2026, Ho Chi Minh City reported a series of unvaccinated children contracting meningococcal disease. Upon reviewing their immunization records, she discovered her two children still lacked vaccines for meningococcal disease, chickenpox, mumps, rubella, and pneumococcal disease. The couple tightened their spending, and Hien took on additional sewing and repair work at home to afford her children's vaccinations.

Since the beginning of the year, the family has spent 1-5 million dong monthly on vaccinations for their two children and annual flu shots for both parents. Hien believes this expense impacts their savings but is less than the cost of treatment and lost income if the entire family were to fall ill.

Hien's 7-year-old son receives a 3-in-1 vaccine for measles, mumps, and rubella at VNVC District 9. *Photo: Dieu Thuan*

Do Thi Quyen, 44, a factory worker at Ho Chi Minh City's High-Tech Park, repeatedly postponed vaccinations due to frequent overtime. "I'm tired when I get home and just sleep, so I haven't been able to get vaccinated yet," she said.

On 24/7, after her night shift, Quyen received flu, pneumococcal 20, and 9-type HPV vaccines in a single session. The total cost exceeded 5 million dong, nearly half her monthly income. She considers this expense reasonable compared to the costs of examination, treatment, and lost workdays if she were to fall ill.

Tran Thi Le Thu, 50, from Quang Ngai, has been a street vendor by bicycle in Ho Chi Minh City for over 21 years. Her job exposes her to constant dust and smoke, leading to frequent coughing and sore throats. Fearing that contracting the flu would prevent her from selling and earning enough for her three children's university tuition, she vaccinates her entire family annually.

Thu takes advantage of her commute home from selling goods to get her flu booster shot at VNVC Hoang Van Thu. *Photo: Moc Thao*

Doctor Tran Huynh Tan, Medical Manager at the VNVC Vaccination System, stated that vaccines help reduce treatment costs, days missed from school or work, and caregiving burdens. A study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health across 94 low- and middle-income countries from 2011-2020 estimated that every USD invested in immunization yields approximately 44 USD in economic and social benefits. A study in 11 European countries also noted that treating a single measles case costs 400 times more than vaccination.

According to Doctor Tan, vaccines have helped Vietnam eradicate polio, eliminate neonatal tetanus, and control many infectious diseases. However, severe cases of influenza, measles, chickenpox, whooping cough, pneumococcal disease, Japanese encephalitis, meningococcal disease, dengue fever, RSV, and rabies are still reported; many patients remain unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated. These diseases are easily transmitted through the respiratory tract, or by vectors such as mosquitoes and warm-blooded mammals like dogs, cats, bats, rats, and monkeys.

Meningococcal and pneumococcal bacteria can reside in the nose and throat of healthy individuals, causing pneumonia, meningitis, and sepsis when the immune system is weakened by illness, tension, or stress. The chickenpox virus can remain dormant in the body and reactivate to cause shingles when immunity declines. Flu vaccines require annual boosters. Diphtheria, whooping cough, and tetanus vaccines need boosters at ages 4-6 and then every 10 years. Doctors recommend that people receive full doses, adhere to the correct schedule, get catch-up vaccinations, and regularly review their immunization records for boosters to prevent diseases and dangerous complications.

Cong Nguyen