Vietnam to vaccinate children against Covid-19 from November

"The vaccine is safe for children," Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said at a meeting.

The vaccine, produced by American corporation called Pfizer in New York and BioNTech, a German biotechnology company based in Germany, has been recommended for children by the World Health Organization.

The national campaign will start with those aged 16 and 17 and work its way down.

Only those having the written consent of parents and guardians can be vaccinated. They will have their health checked prior to the inoculation in line with the ministry’s Covid-19 vaccination guidelines.

The ministry had on Oct. 14 approved the administration of vaccines for children aged 12-17, prioritizing the 16-17 age group. Tuesday’s meeting and announcement was the first instance that specified the kind of vaccine to be used for the age group.

The nation’s two biggest cities, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, have already prepared plans to vaccinate teenagers and children.

The HCMC Health Department plans to begin vaccinating 780,000 children against Covid-19 starting Wednesday, first in the downtown District 1 and the outlying Cu Chi District. Cu Chi is set to vaccinate around 1,500 children aged 16-17 on the first day, while District 1 will start with 310 12th graders.

Hanoi’s vaccination campaign for children aged 12-17 is expected to commence in 2022.

The Pfizer vaccine has been administered to the12-17 age group in about 30 countries.

On October 23, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recognized the vaccine as suited for administration to the 5-11 age group.

Vietnam has so far vaccinated 52.6 million adults with at least one Covid-19 vaccine shot and 21.5 million people have been fully vaccinated.