A sixth-grade pupil in northern Bac Ninh province has her health checked before being vaccinated against COVID-19 on April 19. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNS/VNA) – The aged between five and under
12 years old have been carried out safely in many localities over the past few
days and no incidents have been recorded so far.
The
medical sector has been well prepared in terms of human resources, equipment
and medicines to provide emergency treatment in case of adverse reactions to
vaccinations.
The
psychology of both parents and children is stable.
In
order to ensure safety, the trained medical workers on
administering Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for the children as well as how
to respond to reactions after inoculation.
The
ministry has also provided consultancy for parents and teachers about the
organisation of vaccination at schools and guided them on how to monitor
children’s health after being vaccinated.
Northern
Bac Giang province started to inoculate sixth-grade pupils on April 19 after
receiving 18,600 doses of vaccines, which have been approved for
children between five and under 12 years old.
The
vaccination site of Hoang Van Thu Secondary School in Bac Giang province was
set up with a table and two medical workers, an area to screen for children
before getting vaccinated, an area designed for monitoring children’s health
after being inoculated and an area used for data management.
Present
at the vaccination site were medical workers from the provincial
General Hospital and experts in children’s health, who were sent to
provide professional support during the vaccination process.
The
pupils underwent careful health screening before getting vaccinated. After
being inoculated, they had their health monitored for 30 minutes, before
returning to classes.
The
school has 204 sixth-grade students, however, only 60 of them are eligible for
inoculation for this round of vaccination.
The
school’s principal Nguyen Sy Ngoc said most parents had agreed for their
children to be vaccinated.
Duong
Ha Ngoc, a sixth-grade student from the Hoang Van Thu Secondary School, said:
“I felt a little bit worried before getting the vaccine. And I felt a
little pain when being injected but it is ok now. My family agreed for me to be
administered and I myself want to be inoculated to prevent the disease.”
The
provincial Department of Health asked local hospitals to set up mobile
vaccination and emergency teams with enough equipment, medicine and vehicles to
be ready to provide emergency treatment when needed, according to the department’s
deputy director Nguyen Thi Thu Huong.
Southern
Dong Nai province also started to administer vaccines to children aged
between five and 11 years old on Tuesday.
At
Tran Hung Dao Secondary School in the province’s Bien Hoa city, hundreds of
parents and children were present from 7am to prepare for their children’s
vaccination. Most of the parents said the vaccination is needed to prevent
COVID-19.
Tran
Le Hoa, a mother of a sixth-grade student, said parents have expected their
children to be inoculated against COVID-19 for a long time as they return to
school and face a high risk of being infected with the virus.
Thanks
to the vaccination campaign, parents now feel more secure in letting their
children back to school, she said.
Around
500 students of the school will be inoculated during this campaign.
There
are more than 400,000 children aged between five and 11 years old in Dong Nai.
In
Quang Ninh province, all 119 sixth-grade students of Tran Quoc Toan Secondary
School, who were the first children to be vaccinated last week when Vietnam
kicked off the vaccination campaign for children, are in stable health
condition, according to Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Health
Nguyen Minh Tuan.
The
province plans to continue to administer around 20,000 doses of vaccines for
children in the age group between April 20 and 22.
Quang
Ninh has 181,000 children aged between five and under 12 years old.
To
ensure safety for children, the province organised training for medical
workers who are entrusted to vaccinate the children and assigned emergency
teams at each vaccination site.
Other
localities, including Hanoi, HCM City, Ha Nam, Tuyen Quang, Yen Bai, Binh Duong,
Cao Bang, Hai Duong, Ha Giang, Son La and Bac Ninh provinces have
also begun to vaccinate this age group.
Hanoi
and HCM City kicked off the campaign to immunise the children on April 16. As
of April 18, the two cities had administered around 78,000 doses of vaccines
to children aged 5 to below 12 years old, starting first with six graders
before moving down the age range.
As
of April 18, Vietnam had injected 209,816,927 doses of COVID-19 vaccines,
including 38,944 doses for children aged from 5 to under 12 years old (one
dose).
The
country has so far approved two vaccines for use on children aged five to under
12 years old, which are Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
The
recommended gap between doses is four weeks. For children, both doses
must be of the same vaccine.
Around
11.8 million children from five to below 12 years old in Vietnam are eligible
for COVID-19 vaccination./.
Source: VietnamPlus
