A resident in HCM City receives a COVID-19 vaccine shot. VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — The HCM City Department of Health on October 25 asked the Pasteur Institute in the city to approve the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 12-17.

The department also asked the institute to provide guidance and professional training for pre-vaccination screening for youth as the Ministry of Health has yet to issue guidance for vaccinations for 12 to 17-year-olds.

Around 780,000 adolescents aged 12 to 17 in the city will be vaccinated, according to a plan for children vaccinations issued by the HCM City Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

The municipal Department of Education and Training surveyed parents of children who attend the 6th-12th grade. More than 92 per cent, or 655,715 parents, say they are willing to vaccinate their children.

Nearly 98.8 per cent of parents in Hóc Môn District say they want to vaccinate their children, the city’s highest level, while only 79 per cent of parents in District 7 say they want to vaccinate their children, the lowest level.

Thủ Đức City has the highest number of 6th to 12th grade students (92,171), with 91.8 per cent of parents wanting their children to be vaccinated.

The Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs was asked to compile a list of adolescents aged 12 through 17 who have dropped out of school or are being taken care of at State-run child care centres to ensure that they are also vaccinated.

More than 450 schools in the city will be arranged as vaccination sites. —VNS