A student is vaccinated against COVID-19 in HCM City. The city will focus on vaccinating children aged five to 17 in August before the new school year. – Photo sggp.org.vn

HCM CITY – HCM City aims to vaccinate children aged five to 17 against COVID-19 in August in preparation for the next school year.

The city is seeing a slightly rising caseload due to the new contagious sub-variants Omicron BA.4 and BA.5, although intensive cases remain stable.

On July 29, the city recorded 141 new cases, while a few weeks ago it only recorded fewer than 50 daily cases.

The HCM City Department of Health has worked with the local People’s Committee and districts to prepare for vaccinating children in the city, before their next school year starts in September.

Children can get their jabs at schools and other community vaccination sites.

District-level steering committees for COVID-19 prevention and control are to carry out vaccination plans and inform parents of inoculation sites.

Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính and HCM City People’s Committee have instructed localities to increase vaccination rates among children to ensure immunity, and for the vaccination programme to be completed by August 30.

Nguyễn Văn Vĩnh Châu, deputy director of the department, said that vaccination would be very important for dealing with COVID-19 and reducing health risks for people who get the disease.

Getting booster shots restores immunity against the disease, as vaccines gradually wear off over time, especially in high risk groups such as children, the elderly and people with underlying conditions.

After HCM City recorded cases of the new Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants in early July, the number of people getting their third and fourth jabs has been rising.

Việt Nam needs to watch out for the possibility of another outbreak, according to the department. – VNS