People in HCM City get vaccinated at the Phú Thọ Sport Stadium in District 11 on June 25. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Vũ

HCM CITY — In HCM City, 404,700 people got immunised in the fourth phase of its COVID-19 vaccination drive which began on June 19, according to its Department of Health.

Screening before vaccination found that 40,412 people had high blood pressure and other health conditions, meaning they could not get the shot. They will be checked again at hospitals before being given the vaccine.

The Ministry of Health will provide more vaccines to the city. The city would seek its own sources for 15 million doses this year, Nguyễn Tấn Bỉnh, the department head, told a press meeting on Friday.

The city would ensure there are enough vaccines for everyone, he added.

It plans to speed up vaccination to administer 800,000 doses by the end of Saturday as scheduled, he said.

Explaining the slow start to the campaign in earlier this week, Bỉnh said this is the first time vaccination sites have been set up across many industrial zones and other sites in the city and there have been stumbles in coordination between various bodies involved in the vaccination efforts, but the operations have been going well since Thursday.

It has set up 946 sites at health facilities and elsewhere since June 19 and assigned 1,290 teams of doctors and other medical workers and volunteers, he said.

The city is carefully preparing human resources and materials for the vaccination drive besides storing vaccines, screening and post-vaccination monitoring, he said.

According to statistics, 1,109 people have had severe side effects such as anaphylactic reactions after getting shot, but were treated and have recovered.  

Bỉnh said any vaccine could cause side effects, and monitoring treating people is key.

A delegation from the health ministry, led by the Deputy Director of Preventive Medicine Đỗ Trường Duy, has also Friday inspected vaccination venues at Bình Chánh District School, Bình Điền Wholesale Market and Mạc Đĩnh Chi high school in District 6.

The COVID variants identified first in India and UK are causing the rapid spread in the city during the latest outbreak and so vaccination is being done quickly besides Ministry of Health’s 5K message for prevention, rapid tracing, and testing.

As of June 25, the city has had 2,302 locally transmitted cases, 445 of whom have recovered. — VNS