Moderna COVID-19 vaccine utilised for children from six to under 12 years old

Illustrative image (Source: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Moderna COVID-19 vaccine provided throughthe COVAX Facility should be used first to vaccinate children aged from six tobelow 12 years to speed up the inoculation for this age group, according to the NationalInstitute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE).

In a recent document sent to institutes of hygieneand epidemiology, Pasteur Institutes, health departments and centres fordisease control and prevention of cities and provinces, the NIHE requested reviewing the list of children in the group to ensure all eligible children are vaccinated.

Institutes of hygiene and epidemiology and PasteurInstitutes should coordinate with local authorities to ensure the effectiveuse of vaccines.

The NIHE decided on March 1 to allocate ModernaCOVID-19 vaccine doses that were distributed to Vietnam via the COVAX Facilityto inoculate people aged 18 years and above.

However, a number of localities have not used up thevaccine, prompting the NIHE to seek permission from the COVAX Facility to useit for the six-under 12 years age group. The COVAX Facility has approved theproposal.

Vietnam has so far approved Pfizer-BioNTech andModerna for use on children between five and under 12 years of age, withModerna for six- to under-12 year-olds.

As of May 4, the country had injected 215,159,324doses of COVID-19 vaccines, including 1,617,802 first shots for children fromfive to under 12 years old./.

VNA