Authorities in Vietnam’s southern Binh Phuoc Province began vaccinating more than 130,000 children from 12 to 17 years old on Monday as part of a drive that will last through April 30, 2022.
The inoculation plan was announced on Saturday, with 131,058 children to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Teenagers aged 16 to 17 will become the first vaccine recipients before the rest, according to the plan.
Priorities will be given to children in areas where COVID-19 infections and coronavirus-related deaths have been documented in the community, in locales with high population density and industrial parks, and in bordering districts.
Health authorities will organize mobile inoculation points at schools in combination with those at medical stations and hospitals.
The provincial People’s Committee also requested relevant units to review and divide the targeted vaccine recipients according to risk groups, as stipulated by the Ministry of Health.
Preparations will be made for handling possible adverse events post-vaccination and providing support in urgent cases.
Binh Phuoc has a population of more than one million people, of whom about 700,000 are over 18 years old.
As of Monday morning, over 95 percent of the province’s adult population have been given at least one dose while nearly 60 percent have been fully inoculated, according to the national COVID-19 vaccination portal.
The province has reported 3,069 COVID-19 cases, including 15 deaths, since the fourth virus wave flared up in Vietnam in late April.
Vietnam has found 1,026,522 infections since the COVID-19 pandemic first hit it early last year, including 1,021,493 community transmissions in all of its 63 provinces and cities since the fourth wave.
Recoveries have reached 863,311 while the death toll has jumped to 23,082.
Health workers have administered nearly 99 million vaccine doses since inoculation was rolled out nationwide on March 8, with over 34.6 million people having received two injections.
Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!