Hanoi, Oct. 27 (BNA): Vietnam on Wednesday began vaccinating children as part of an effort to reopen schools after more than half a year of lockdown due to COVID-19.
The Ministry of Health said on its website that about 1,500 teenagers aged 16 to 17 in the southern Vietnamese city of Ho Chi Minh were among the first to receive vaccinations before the nationwide vaccination program was launched in November. .
During the first phase, only Vietnam approved the Pfizer vaccine for children. The report said that parents or guardians must sign a consent form for their children to be vaccinated.
“The safety of vaccination for children is the top priority,” Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Luong said during a meeting on Tuesday before the launch of the vaccine.
Last week, the ministry approved vaccinations for children aged 12-17, with older teens in more densely populated cities giving priority to the first doses. There are about 14 million Vietnamese children in this age group.
According to the report, children will be vaccinated in their schools, and those who do not go to school will be vaccinated in children’s hospitals.
About 55 percent of Vietnam’s 98 million residents have received the COVID-19 vaccine, but only half have been fully vaccinated with both doses.
Vietnam closed schools and educational institutions in May when an outbreak fueled by the delta variable spread across the country. No date has been set for schools to reopen, but the government is targeting early 2022.
The southern provinces were the hardest hit by the virus, with Ho Chi Minh City being the epicenter. About 800,000 people were infected and 20,000 died in less than four months with the outbreak.
MI