Healthcare workers, military forces and security officers are among the first people to receive their third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. — Photo laodong.vn

HCM CITY — HCM City is the first city in the country to give COVID-19 vaccine booster shots under the guidance of the Ministry of Health.

More than 78,000 third doses have been given thus far, the city said.

The city is administering booster shots to people aged 18 and over who are fully vaccinated. If they received the first and second doses from the same vaccine or a mix of different vaccines, the booster dose will be the mRNA vaccine such as Pfizer or Moderna. If the primary course's vaccine was Sinopharm, a person can take another Sinopharm booster shot or an mRNA vaccine or a vector-virus vaccine (like AstraZeneca).

Priority will be given to people aged 50 and over with underlying health issues, people who require long-term care at health facilities, medical workers, especially those directly involved in collecting samples for COVID-19 testing and treating COVID-19 patients, police officers and soldiers.

The HCM City Department of Health and local authorities are working with related units and organisations to organise vaccinations.

According to the Health Department, from December 2021 to June 2022, the city needs more than 6.3 million doses of vaccines of all kinds for boosters (third dose) and second-dose injections. — VNS