Laos plans to vaccinate children aged 6-11 by early 2022
Vientiane (VNA) –
The Lao Government will start inoculating children aged 6 to 11 nationwide from
January next year, according to the Lao Ministry of Health.
The ministry said health agencies at provincial and district levels have already been assigned to collect the number of children
eligible for vaccination with the Pfizer vaccine.
Health workers will inform parents
about the importance of vaccination and encourage them to register for their children
to help people have a better understanding of vaccination, it said, adding
that children can only receive vaccine shots with parents’ consent.
Inoculation for children
aged 6-11 will begin in the capital Vientiane, but provinces that are ready to
roll out the programme can also do so in advance. The Lao Ministry of Health said
that it will evaluate the success of the COVID-19 vaccination programme for
children aged 12-17 after it finishes at the end of next month.
The Lao government hopes that
if a certain amount of children is vaccinated, schools will be deemed safe and
allowed to reopen.
The COVID-19 cases in Laos
continued to increase with 1,291 new infections reported on November 30,
bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 73,738.
All of the new cases were
local transmissions, and 6,273 tests were conducted across the country over the
last 24 hours, according to Sisavath Soutthaniraxay, Deputy Director General of the Department of
Communicable Diseases Control under Lao Ministry of Health.
Vientiane capital reported the highest number of new cases with 615. Four new deaths were recorded
over the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 170, said Sisavath./.