A 6th grader in Hà Nội's Thanh Xuân District receives a COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Tuấn Anh

HÀ NỘI —The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) has announced the distribution plan for nearly 1.4 million doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to cities and provinces across the country.

A total of 1,382,400 doses of the vaccine, which was donated by the Australian Government, are earmarked for children aged 5 to 11.

Under the decision, HCM City will receive the most with 193,800 doses, followed by Hà Nội with 104,000 doses. Thanh Hoá Province is set to receive 51,000 doses, Nghệ An Province 48,600 doses, Bình Dương Province 28,200, Đồng Nai Province 44,400, Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu with 13,600 and Quảng Ninh with 24,000.

The NIHE requires the local authorities to immediately organise the vaccination drive for children aged 5 to 11 and report the results to their respective departments of preventive health, institutes of hygiene and epidemiology and disease control centres.

The distributed Moderna vaccines were defrosted at 11 pm on April 13.

The dosage is 0.25ml per child.

Previously, the NIHE has allocated the very first batch of 921,600 doses of Moderna vaccine reserved for children in this age group, also donated by the Australian Government, to disease control centres in provinces and cities across the country.

So far, over 2.3 million doses of Moderna vaccines have been allocated by the NIHE for children from 5 to 11 years old. 

Localities such as HCM City, Hà Nội and the provinces of Quảng Ninh, Hà Nam, Tuyên Quang, Yên Bái, Bình Dương and Cao Bằng have already begun vaccinating this age group.

As of Monday, HCM City and Hà Nội had administered around 78,000 vaccines to children aged 5 to 11 years old, starting first with six graders (11 years old) before moving down the age range.

No incidents have been recorded so far in the two cities with the biggest groups of young children in this age range, according to health authorities.

Hà Nội has about one million children between the age of five and eleven years old, including 157,000 in kindergartens, 743,000 in primary schools, and 102,100 in secondary high school (sixth grade) along with 6,600 non-school-going children.

HCM City has nearly 900,000 children in the age group, including 885,730 who are attending school and 12,807 who are under the care of social welfare organisations or not going to school.

Bạc Liêu Province started its COVID-19 vaccination drive for 105,959 children on Tuesday.

On the same day, Hải Dương Province vaccinated 158 children from grade 6.

The province set a plan to complete its vaccination campaign for children aged 5 to 11 years old by June this year.

There are fixed vaccination points at 235 health stations and mobile vaccinations will be placed in schools.

Hải Dương Province has 134,188 children aged between 5 and 11 who are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination, out of a total of 237,810. — VNS