Vietnamese children aged 5-11 get vaccinated against COVID-19

Moderna vaccine (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) - The COVID-19 vaccination campaign for children aged 5 to below 12 began on April 14, with the launching ceremony held by the Ministry of Health in the northern province of Quang Ninh.

The first batch of vaccine administered to children in this age group is Moderna, sponsored by the Australian Government. The shipment arrived in Vietnam on April 8.

The vaccine is being given to sixth-grade pupils first.

The two vaccines approved for use on children aged 5-11 are Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

The recommended interval between the two doses is four weeks. For children, both doses must be of the same vaccine.

"There are 11.8 million children of 5-12 years old eligible for COVID-19 vaccination," said Phan Trong Lan, Director of the ministry’s General Department of Preventive Medicine. "3.6 million of these children have recovered from COVID-19 and will be vaccinated three months later."

The common side effects of the Moderna vaccine include lymph node swelling, headaches, nausea, muscle and joint pains, injection site pain, chills, fevers, swelling and/or rashes at the injection site, according to the ministry.

Meanwhile, diarrhoea, rashes, and dermographic urticaria are common side effects at injection sites./.

VNA