Children aged 12-15 in Bù Gia Mập District, the southern province of Bình Phước, received their first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on Monday. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — A 12-year-old boy in the southern province of Bình Phước has died after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, local health authorities confirmed.

He is the third child to die after taking a vaccine in Việt Nam since the country began inoculating children aged 12-17 with Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines in late October, following the fatal post-vaccination anaphylactic shocks happening with two teenagers in Hà Nội and Bắc Giang Province just last week.

The boy, named T. from Tân Lợi Commune, was given the COVID-19 shot on Monday afternoon.

After returning home and resting, T. complained of dizziness and stomachache so the family took him to receive emergency medical attention at a military-run hospital in Bình Phước.

The boy was then transferred to Bình Phước Province General Hospital and later to a hospital in HCM City for treatment, but died on Tuesday morning.

A medical council is expected to convene on Wednesday to determine the cause of the boy’s death, and the results will be made public, according to the local health department.

Bình Phước on Monday and Tuesday continued to give the first dose of vaccine for children aged 12-15, after giving vaccines to 98 per cent of the 16-17 age group population in the province.

To date, 96.9 per cent of the adult population in Bình Phước have received at least one vaccine shot, and 66.7 per cent receiving two shots. — VNS