A sixth-grade pupil in northern Bac Ninh province has her health checked before being vaccinated against COVID-19 on April 19. (Photo: VNA)Themedical sector has been well prepared in terms of human resources, equipmentand medicines to provide emergency treatment in case of adverse reactions tovaccinations.
Thepsychology of both parents and children is stable.
Inorder to ensure safety, the Ministry of Health trained medical workers onadministering Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for the children as well as howto respond to reactions after inoculation.
Theministry has also provided consultancy for parents and teachers about theorganisation of vaccination at schools and guided them on how to monitorchildren's health after being vaccinated.
NorthernBac Giang province started to inoculate sixth-grade pupils on April 19 afterreceiving 18,600 doses of Moderna vaccines, which have been approved forchildren between five and under 12 years old.
Thevaccination site of Hoang Van Thu Secondary School in Bac Giang province wasset up with a table and two medical workers, an area to screen for childrenbefore getting vaccinated, an area designed for monitoring children's healthafter being inoculated and an area used for data management.
Presentat the vaccination site were medical workers from the provincialGeneral Hospital and experts in children's health, who were sent toprovide professional support during the vaccination process.
Thepupils underwent careful health screening before getting vaccinated. Afterbeing inoculated, they had their health monitored for 30 minutes, beforereturning to classes.
Theschool has 204 sixth-grade students, however, only 60 of them are eligible forinoculation for this round of vaccination.
Theschool's principal Nguyen Sy Ngoc said most parents had agreed for theirchildren to be vaccinated.
DuongHa Ngoc, a sixth-grade student from the Hoang Van Thu Secondary School, said:"I felt a little bit worried before getting the vaccine. And I felt alittle pain when being injected but it is ok now. My family agreed for me to beadministered and I myself want to be inoculated to prevent the disease."
Theprovincial Department of Health asked local hospitals to set up mobilevaccination and emergency teams with enough equipment, medicine and vehicles tobe ready to provide emergency treatment when needed, according to the department'sdeputy director Nguyen Thi Thu Huong.
SouthernDong Nai province also started to administer COVID-19 vaccines to children agedbetween five and 11 years old on Tuesday.
AtTran Hung Dao Secondary School in the province's Bien Hoa city, hundreds ofparents and children were present from 7am to prepare for their children'svaccination. Most of the parents said the vaccination is needed to preventCOVID-19.
TranLe Hoa, a mother of a sixth-grade student, said parents have expected theirchildren to be inoculated against COVID-19 for a long time as they return toschool and face a high risk of being infected with the virus.
Thanksto the vaccination campaign, parents now feel more secure in letting theirchildren back to school, she said.
Around500 students of the school will be inoculated during this campaign.
Thereare more than 400,000 children aged between five and 11 years old in Dong Nai.
InQuang Ninh province, all 119 sixth-grade students of Tran Quoc Toan SecondarySchool, who were the first children to be vaccinated last week when Vietnamkicked off the vaccination campaign for children, are in stable healthcondition, according to Deputy Director of the provincial Department of HealthNguyen Minh Tuan.
Theprovince plans to continue to administer around 20,000 doses of vaccines forchildren in the age group between April 20 and 22.
QuangNinh has 181,000 children aged between five and under 12 years old.
Toensure safety for children, the province organised training for medicalworkers who are entrusted to vaccinate the children and assigned emergencyteams at each vaccination site.
Otherlocalities, including Hanoi, HCM City, Ha Nam, Tuyen Quang, Yen Bai, Binh Duong,Cao Bang, Hai Duong, Ha Giang, Son La and Bac Ninh provinces havealso begun to vaccinate this age group.
Hanoiand HCM City kicked off the campaign to immunise the children on April 16. Asof April 18, the two cities had administered around 78,000 doses of vaccinesto children aged 5 to below 12 years old, starting first with six gradersbefore moving down the age range.
Asof April 18, Vietnam had injected 209,816,927 doses of COVID-19 vaccines,including 38,944 doses for children aged from 5 to under 12 years old (onedose).
Thecountry has so far approved two vaccines for use on children aged five to under12 years old, which are Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
Therecommended gap between doses is four weeks. For children, both dosesmust be of the same vaccine.
Around11.8 million children from five to below 12 years old in Vietnam are eligiblefor COVID-19 vaccination./.
VNA
