Staff members at a medical center in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, injected disabled children from 12 to 17 years old with the first doses of COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday.

The vaccination session, carried out by the center in collaboration with various child protection and vocational training facilities, began at around 8:00 am on Sunday.

The task of administering the vaccines faced unique challenges as many of the 130 participating children with disabilities cried and behaved in a hostile manner.

Among those children were the 16-year-old child of K.H., a 60-year-old resident of District 3, whose wife had passed away.

H. sends his child, who has a mental disability, to a child protection center at a monthly cost of VND2 million (US$87), while he works as a day laborer to make ends meet.

“I’m very worried about him,” said H., adding that he had to tie his child behind his back to transport him to the inoculation venue on Sunday morning.

“I’m old and weak and I don’t know who will take care of him if something bad happens to me. 

“Having him vaccinated makes me feel a little more secure. ”

H.T., a 50-year-old resident of the same district, also took her child, who is 16 years old with disabilities and developmental issues that cause his body to gradually atrophy, rendering him immobile, to the medical center in District 3 on Sunday morning.

“All of my family members have been vaccinated against COVID-19, except him, so we’re very afraid of transmitting the virus to him after every outdoor trip,” T. said.

“I’m less worried now that he had an injection.”

Ho Chi Minh City authorities began administering COVID-19 vaccine to students aged 12 to 17 last Wednesday.

The municipal administration will organize more COVID-19 inoculation sessions for children with disabilities attending child protection and vocational training centers in the next few days.

Ho Chi Minh City has been the biggest epicenter in the country since the fourth outbreak began on April 27, with over 432,000 local cases and around 16,500 deaths.

The city of about nine million people had administered over 13.2 million vaccine doses as of Sunday afternoon, with more than 5.7 million people fully inoculated.

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