Ho Chi Minh City has yet to conduct COVID-19 vaccination for children

Ho Chi Minh City has yet to determine a plan to vaccinate children against COVID-19, said Deputy Head of the Ho Chi Minh City Steering Committee for COVID-19 prevention and control Pham Duc Hai during a meeting on the COVID-19 situation on October 18.

Delegates attend the meeting.
Delegates attend the meeting.

Hai said that the Ministry of Health issued a document on vaccination against COVID-19 for children aged 12-17 on October 14 and the city’s Department of Health submitted a report to the municipal People’s Committee on the preparation for vaccination for children in accordance with the guidance of the Health Ministry.

“There are currently no plans to vaccinate children in the city. After the Ministry of Health has more specific instructions on the type of vaccine, injection time, and the method of injection, the city’s Health Department will continue to complete the report such that the municipal People's Committee may issue a plan on vaccination for children in accordance with the instructions of the Ministry of Health”, Hai said.

Hai also noted that the number of seriously ill patients requiring ventilators has been tending to decrease significantly from 2,500 in late August to 404 on October 17. The number of hospital admissions is also reducing and is now lower than the number of discharges.

The number of deaths has also declined gradually with 61 cases on October 14, 58 cases on October 15, and 38 cases on October 16.

In addition, the city has detailed a roadmap to conclude the operation of field hospitals for COVID-19 treatment. The city is scheduled to stop the operation of five field hospitals by October 31, an additional five by November 30, and a further five by December 31.