Questions and answers

Prepare yourself! Before your child gets the shot, follow a few simple steps to make the visit to the vaccination centre less stressful for you and your child:

1. Read information about vaccines from reliable sources and write down the questions you want to ask your healthcare provider.
2. Bring a favourite toy or book, as well as a blanket that your child usually uses to comfort them.
3. Help older children understand that vaccines are good. Do not scare them with injections, do not say: "If you misbehave, I will take you to the nurse and she will give you a shot." Instead, keep reminding your child that vaccines help them not to get sick.
4. Be honest with your child. Explain that during the injection they will feel as if they have been pinched or stung, but that it will not hurt for long.
5. Ask other family members, especially older siblings, to support the child.
6. Do not tell "scary stories" or scare your child with injections.

Vaccination "trains" the human body to successfully counteract microorganisms (bacteria and viruses) that cause many serious diseases in humans. Once administered, the vaccine triggers the body's response, which allows it to successfully resist pathogens that the child may have contracted from the environment or directly from a sick person. Different doses of vaccines are administered to achieve protection and build immunity. Some vaccines provide protection for life, while others require booster doses throughout life (revaccination).

The thing to which an immune response develops is called an antigen. Antigens are the basis of vaccines. They can be weakened or inactivated (killed) microorganisms. They can be extracted from pathogens or obtained in another way (for example, synthesised). Although vaccines contain only a small proportion of the antigens that children encounter in their environment every day, they help build immunity - the antibodies and cells needed to fight off the diseases they have been vaccinated against.

If you have been exposed to COVID-19, regardless of your antibody levels, you are still advised to get vaccinated 28 days after recovery. People who have been ill and vaccinated have half the chance of getting infected again.

The use and availability of the certificate on the territory of Ukraine is now optional - it is no longer necessary to provide the document to visit public places.

However, when planning a trip abroad, you need to know the rules of entry in advance - each country makes its own decisions on the introduction of quarantine restrictions in relation to various infectious diseases.

Vaccination against COVID-19 can be carried out according to the doctor's decision and at the patient's request. It is recommended but not mandatory.

According to the position of the National Technical Expert Group on Immunoprophylaxis (NTGIE), in Ukraine, patients can receive a basic course of vaccination (two doses for two-dose vaccines and one dose for single-dose Jcovden (formerly Janssen)).

To restore the body's immune defence against COVID-19, it is recommended to receive revaccination (booster) doses. As of now, it can be 2 courses of revaccination. The decision on the 3rd revaccination against COVID-19 will be considered by the NTHEI at its next meeting.

The drug should not be used for "prophylaxis". It is used only once, only after notification from the official authorities.

It is optimal to take potassium iodide 6 hours before exposure to radioactive iodine. Despite the low probability of predicting such a situation, it is permissible to use the drug up to 24 hours before radioactive iodine enters the body and up to 8 hours after exposure.

Later use of the drug is harmful to the body.

In any case, you need to wait for the official announcement of the local authorities on the start of iodine prophylaxis.