Inoculations against chicken pox and COVID-19 to be included in Armenia National Vaccination Calendar

The Armenian government made a decision in its Cabinet session Thursday, which plans to make appropriate changes to the National Vaccination Calendar and include smallpox inoculations in this calendar within the specified time frame—starting from 2024, the COVID-19 vaccinations among risk groups, as well as to administer vaccinations against Hepatitis A—with a one-dose schedule.

The respective rationale for this decision states that the mutation process of the COVID-19 virus continues, as a result of which the probability of this disease’s severe forms and death among risk groups increases. In this context, there is a need to include in the National Vaccination Calendar the inoculations against COVID-19 among risk groups.

In Armenia, vaccinations against Hepatitis A are intended for 15-16-year-old pre-conscripts, whose number has been increasing in recent years. Therefore, it is proposed to make appropriate changes in the National Vaccination Calendar and to administer, with a one-dose schedule, vaccination against Hepatitis A among those of the pre-conscription age.

The National Vaccination Calendar of Armenia provides for two age groups to be vaccinated against Hepatitis A: 15-16 years old, with a 2-dose scheme, but the actual vaccinations are administered covering one age group due to the available number of subjects and the amount of vaccine. The aforesaid change, however, will enable to simultaneously include both age groups in vaccination against Hepatitis A in accordance with the National Immunization Calendar.

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