Students at Hùng Vương High School in Thủ Dầu Một City, the southern province of Bình Dương, receive their COVID-19 vaccines on Sunday. Bình Dương was the second locality in Việt Nam to start inoculating children, after HCM City. Hà Nội is expected to do the same soon. — VNA/VNS Photo Văn Hướng

HÀ NỘI — Hà Nội People's Committee on Monday made public its plan to vaccinate about 700,000-850,000 children aged 12-17, after a number of localities in the country, including HCM City, have already started inoculation campaigns for children.

All children aged between 12 and 17 years old, including those who do not attend school in person, will be vaccinated if they meet the indications recommended by the vaccine manufacturers and the Health Ministry.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Hanoi (HCDC) has listed about 700,000-850,000 children in the mentioned age range that need vaccination.

If students attend school in person, they will be vaccinated at school. If there is an outbreak and they cannot attend school in person, they will receive their shots at a local vaccination site. 

If the number of vaccines it received is not sufficient, Hà Nội will prioritise the distribution of vaccines in localities with the following characteristics: having witnessed new community COVID-19 cases, high population density, having crowded places with many service providers and schools, bordering provinces with a complicated outbreak, transportation gateways, or having centralised quarantine facilities.

Under different circumstances, adjustments and specific priorities for each locality will be made to ensure that the children in outbreak-affected areas will be vaccinated first.

The Health Ministry has approved two kinds of vaccines for children, including Pfizer's Comirnaty and Moderna's Spikevax.

It is expected that all children aged 12-17 will have received their first vaccine shots within the fourth quarter of this year.

Experts recommend parents shouldn't let their children be too active within 3 days of vaccination due to risks of myocarditis.

COVID-19 vaccination is contraindicated for children with a clear history of anaphylaxis to the previous vaccine shot or its components.

The children have to delay vaccination when there is an acute illness or other factors. 

Children with a history of allergy, or cognitive and behavioural disorders should be cautious when getting vaccinated.

Children with congenital and chronic diseases can still get vaccinated but they must have their vaccines at a hospital, under the doctors' assessments and decisions.

Hà Nội has administered 9,826,235 shots to date, with 6,074,086 people having received at least one dose of vaccine. — VNS