Hà Nội begins vaccinating children against COVID-19, eyeing reopening high schools next month

HÀ NỘI — The capital city of Hà Nội on Tuesday began its COVID- 一 九 inoculation campaign for children to prepare for the resumption of in-person learning.

The municipal health department allocated  三0 四, 一 四0 doses to  三0 districts, rural and urban, to give the first jab to children aged  一 五- 一 七 studying and living in the city.

Đống Đa District received the most with  一 九, 一 八 八 doses, followed by Đông Anh with  一 五, 八 九 四 doses, Cầu Giấy with  一 五, 六 六 五, Ba Vì with  一 二, 四 一 四, Nam Từ Liêm with  一 二, 三 一 二 doses, Hà Đông with  一 一, 四 七 八, and the remaining districts receiving between  五,000- 一 一,000 doses.

The campaign is expected to last two to three days and should finish by Thursday.

The vaccination sites are schools (for students) and health stations (for children who do not go to school or study in other localities). Children with congenital or chronic diseases will receive jabs at hospitals for pre-vaccination check-ups and post-vaccination monitoring.

At  八am Tuesday morning, Nguyễn Hồng Thái, residing in Thanh Xuân District, Hà Nội, brought his son, Ng. T. C ( 一 二th grade) to Trần Hưng Đạo High School for the shot. Thái said all adults in the family have received two shots and he’s happy now that it’s the turn of their children.

Vũ Đình Hà, Director of Trần Hưng Đạo High School, told Vietnam News Agency that the school had prepared for the vaccination of  一, 八 七 五 students in four shifts on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The twelfth graders are inoculated first and so far, none have suffered any adverse reactions.

Two rooms have been made into examination rooms and six rooms for  三0 minutes of post-injection observation, with emergency medical staff ready to intervene in case of complications.

Parents who accompanied their children have their own waiting area.

The homeroom teachers and the school’s youth union members are tasked with instructing and directing parents and students to the designated areas and maintaining safe distancing.

Most students said they are glad to have the shots and hope this would enable them to soon go back to in-person learning as fatigue has started to set in after half a year of virtual learning. They also said they welcomed the shots as Hà Nội's coronavirus outbreak is getting complicated with record daily cases seen in recent days.