Vietnam’s Ministry of Health has added more groups of people to the intensified free-of-charge inoculation to take place between July 2021 and April 2022.

A foreign reporter gets vaccinated in Vietnam on June 27. Photo: Baoquocte

Under the plan released on July 8, the country targets to vaccinate at least 50% of adults aged from 18 and cover 70% of the population by April 2022 to achieve herd immunity.

However, the plan might vary due to the vaccine supply, according to the ministry.

The number of groups who are subject to the vaccination rises to 16 instead of 11 as before. Groups in the priority list include:

1. Health workers

2. People joining the anti-pandemic mission (members of the steering committee for Covid-19 prevention at all levels, people working in quarantine centers, contact tracers, volunteers, reporters, among others)

3. Army officers

4. Policemen.

5. Vietnamese diplomats working abroad and relatives, and those working in diplomatic missions and international organizations in Vietnam

6. Customs and state officials working in immigration service

7. Essential providers in aviation, transportation, tourism, tap water, and electricity supply.

8. Teachers and employees in the education sector; people working in administrative agencies having frequent contact with others.

9. People with underlying diseases and those above 65 years of age.

10. People in the pandemic-hit areas.

11. The poor and social beneficiaries.

12. People in overseas missions and foreign experts working in Vietnam

13. Employees, and their relatives, working in enterprises operating in industrial parks, export processing zones, those in transport, credit, tourism, among others, establishments in essential services such as lodging, catering, banking, health care, pharmacy, medical supplies, retail and wholesale market, construction sites; and people in tourist attractions

14. Religious dignitaries

15. Self-employed workers

16. Other groups who are subject to requests made by Health Minister, competent authorities, and vaccine donors.

In addition, four groups of areas to be prioritized for the immunization include affected cities and provinces; localities in the key economic zones; places home to a large number of industrial parks, workers, and residents; and areas having border gates and transboundary traveling.

Vietnam began its inoculation on March 8, 2021. So far, about 4 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered, or 4.1 heads per 100 people, compared to 49.83 in Cambodia, 32.6 in Malaysia, 18.22 in Indonesia, 17.33 in Thailand, and 11.5 in the Philippines.