Moderna COVID-19 vaccine utilised for children from six to under 12 years old

Illustrative image (Source: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Moderna COVID-19 vaccine provided through the COVAX Facility should be used first to vaccinate children aged from six to below 12 years to speed up the inoculation for this age group, according to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE).

In a recent document sent to institutes of hygiene and epidemiology, Pasteur Institutes, health departments and centres for disease control and prevention of cities and provinces, the NIHE requested reviewing the list of children in the group to ensure all eligible children are vaccinated.

Institutes of hygiene and epidemiology and Pasteur Institutes should coordinate with local authorities to ensure the effective use of vaccines.

The NIHE decided on March 1 to allocate Moderna COVID-19 vaccine doses that were distributed to Vietnam via the COVAX Facility to inoculate people aged 18 years and above.

However, a number of localities have not used up the vaccine, prompting the NIHE to seek permission from the COVAX Facility to use it for the six-under 12 years age group. The COVAX Facility has approved the proposal.

Vietnam has so far approved Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna for use on children between five and under 12 years of age, with Moderna for six- to under-12 year-olds.

As of May 4, the country had injected 215,159,324 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, including 1,617,802 first shots for children from five to under 12 years old./.

VNA