On December 7, Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Duong Anh Duc signed a plan for the Covid-19 booster vaccination rollout program.
The booster rollout program will initially target population groups that were prioritized for early vaccination. Accordingly, Ho Chi Minh City will administer a booster dose of vaccine to people 18 years of age who are immunocompromised, organ transplant recipients, cancer and HIV patients currently or have used immunosuppressive drugs within six months.
These individuals get an additional primary dose 28 days after receiving their second shot meanwhile, people 18 years of age or older may get a booster shot 6 months after completing their vaccine primary series.
People with underlying diseases, people who need long-term care in medical facilities, people aged 50 years and over, frontline medical workers, and other forces who directly test, care for and treat Covid-19 patients are the top priority for a booster dose of vaccine.
Ho Chi Minh City will administer vaccination from December 10, depending on vaccine supply. In 2022, the southern largest city will give injections to people who have had enough basic doses for at least 6 months in order of priority.
Additionally, the city continues to inject immunocompromised patients with the full basic dose for at least 28 days as well as ensure coverage of booster dose for all people over 18 years old living in HCMC, by the end of 2022.
Vaccine recipients will get the vaccine type that they originally received or Moderna vaccine mRNA or AstraZeneca vaccine. For instance, if a person gets the Sinopharm vaccine, they can receive a booster shot of the same type or Moderna vaccine mRNA or a viral vector vaccine (Astrazeneca vaccine).
The municipal People's Committee assigned the Department of Health to keep monitoring the progress of vaccine supply from the Ministry of Health and the vaccination progress to coordinate the appropriate vaccine. At the same time, the committee directed the city Center for Disease Control to closely monitor expertise in the process of administering additional doses and booster doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.
