60.49 per cent of parents of kindergarteners in HCM City agreed to let their children get COVID-19 vaccination. VNA/VNS Photo by Hồng Giang

HCM CITY – Asked if their children should be given COVID-19 vaccine shots, 60.49 per cent of parents of kindergarteners and 81.19 per cent of parents of primary school students said yes, according to the HCM City Department of Education and Training.

Trịnh Duy Trọng of the department told a conference last Thursday that preparations for vaccination are complete, and the People’s Committee’s green light is awaited.

Educational institutions are working with medical centres to examine children, especially those suffering from malnutrition or obesity or having underlying health issues, to ensure the safety of the vaccination.

The department and the health department have provided training to staff at 5,626 educational institutes in vaccination safety for children aged five to 11.

Nguyễn Thị Huỳnh Mai, chief of the health department office, said the vaccination must be done meticulously and there is a lot of work to be done from pre-vaccination health screening of children and post-immunisation monitoring to first aid and guiding parents in how to take care of their children, particularly those with post-injection reactions.

HCM City plans to vaccinate 970,000 children against COVID in the first phase. VNS