Hanoi prioritizes Covid outbreak areas for child vaccination

The exact date for vaccination would depend on the Ministry of Health’s vaccine distribution for the capital. The goal is to vaccinate all children aged 12-17 in the city, prioritizing those aged 16-17 before moving down to other age groups.

Khong Minh Tuan, deputy director of the Hanoi Center for Disease Control (CDC), on Monday said the city could vaccinate those aged 12 and under too if there are enough vaccine doses. Doses would be prioritized for districts with new cases, high population density, a high number of areas with crowds and traffic entrances, among other factors, he said.

The Hanoi CDC has listed around 700,000-850,000 children eligible for vaccination. If all students could study in-person at schools, they would be vaccinated at schools. Or else, they would get vaccinated at other facilities.

Vaccinating children might be more difficult than vaccinating adults as they could be scared of doctors, requiring family members to accompany them, which may lead to large crowds streaming to vaccination stations, said Tuan. As such, facilities should have enough equipment to meet every demand, and children should be prepared mentally prior to getting their shots, he added.

Children would also need to be monitored at least seven days after getting their jabs, he said.

Vietnam has approved two types of Covid-19 vaccines, one by Pfizer and the other by Moderna, to vaccinate children aged 12-17.

The country has vaccinated around 57 million adults with at least one Covid-19 vaccine shot while 24.3 million have been fully vaccinated.

Children under 18 account for around 17 percent of all Covid-19 infections in Vietnam, according to data from the health ministry.