Hanoi is making plans to inject two Covid-19 vaccine doses for adolescents aged from 12 to 17, starting 2022, according to Khong Minh Tuan, deputy director of the Hanoi Center for Disease Control (CDC Hanoi).

Tuan said his center is focusing on fully vaccinating the capital city’s adult population, before proceeding to administer to those aged 17-18, and those below 17 years of age, adding that the capital city plans to vaccinate children from three years old.

Hanoi is also reviewing the number of children who must be vaccinated against Covid-19 in three age groups, including from three to 11 years, 12 to 15 years, and 16 to 17 years.

A man receives a Covid-19 vaccine shot at Hanoi-based E Hospital on May 14, 2021. Photo: Pham Hung

Hanoi has injected 7.8 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to local residents so far. The capital city has brought the latest coronavirus outbreak under control, with several positive cases detected daily in quarantine areas.

Since the start of the fourth outbreak of Covid-19 that began on April 27, the capital city has logged a total of over 4,130 infections, including 1,606 cases found within the community.

HCMC plans to begin vaccinating 780,000 children against Covid-19 starting October 27, first in the downtown District 1 and the outlying Cu Chi District, according to Nguyen Huu Hung, deputy director of the municipal Department of Health.

Hung said the department has cooperated with the HCMC Pasteur Institute to train medical workers from hospitals, clinics and other medical facilities in the city regarding vaccination for children. Around 3,900 workers have signed up for training.

Around 780,000 children aged between 12 and 17 in the city would be vaccinated. All of them would receive their first shots within five days, and children aged 16-17 would be prioritized for vaccination, before proceeding to other ages, the deputy director added.

He noted that the HCMC Pasteur Institute is expected to approve the usage of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for children aged 12-17. Only the this vaccine has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for this particular age range.

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

Vietnam has administered more than 71 million Covid-19 vaccine shots to its 98 million population since it rolled out inoculation on March 8. Some 51.9 million people were given one Covid-19 vaccine shot, nearly 20 million people have completed the double dose regimen, according to the national information portal for coronavirus vaccination.