Binh Duong starts COVID-19 vaccination drive for children

Southern Binh Duong province, a major industrial hub hit hard by the recent COVID-19 outbreaks, began vaccinating children aged 12 - 17 against the disease on October 31, hoping to reopen local schools soon.

A student of the Hung Vuong School for the Gifted in Thu Dau Mot city, Binh Duong province, is vaccinated against COVID-19 on October 31

There are about 180,000 people in the age group entitled to the vaccination in Binh Duong, using 360,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine allocated by the Ministry of Health.

Those aged 15 - 17 will receive the shots first and the younger later, according to the provincial Department of Health.

It noted the vaccination drive for children uses the Comirnaty vaccine produced by Pfizer-BioNTech, and that this vaccine is safe for children.

Director of the provincial Department of Education and Training Nguyen Thi Nhat Hang said all preparations for the vaccination drive have been completed so as to ensure absolute safety for students.

So far, 2.3 million people in Binh Duong have got at least one shot of COVID-19 vaccine, equivalent to 96 percent of those aged 18 and above. Among them, nearly 1.6 million people, or 70 percent, have been fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, the central city of Da Nang is scheduled to kick off the vaccination for children aged 15 - 17 on November 2./.

VNA