Nearly 30,000 sixth-grade students in HCMC vaccinated

Mr. Duong Anh Duc, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of HCMC, Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu, Director of the Department of Education and Training of HCMC, Mr. Nguyen Huu Hung, Deputy Director of Department of Health, and leaders of District 5 visited and encouraged students of Hong Bang Secondary School in District 5.

At 7 a.m., students were brought to school by their parents or guardians and guided by teachers and volunteers to wait in the correct area and class. The reception, screening, and vaccination areas are spacious and airy. Waiting for follow-up after the injection, Nguyen Tran My Anh, a student of Class 6/1 of Hong Bang Secondary School, said that over the past time, especially after going back to school for in-person learning, she had witnessed some of her friends infected with Covid-19, so she understood how contagious this disease was. Before getting the Covid-19 vaccine, she was advised by teachers about the benefits of vaccination, and her parents also agreed to vaccinate her.

As for Ho Thai Tuan, a student of Class 6/2, he was a little anxious before the injection. However, he received the encouragement of his teachers, so he felt more confident. Mr. Tran Van Luyen, Principal of Hong Bang Secondary School, said that the organization of Covid-19 vaccination for sixth-grade students was carried out upon the inter-department direction and had been prepared for more than a month. Specifically, at the beginning of March, the school made a list of students in the prescribed age group with identification codes. The school prepared three injection divisions with the support of eight doctors from Cho Ray Hospital, and each injection division has four medical workers. In addition, there is the support of the Ward 12 Medical Center and related forces. According to the plan, on April 16, the school will vaccinate 200 out of 565 students. The remaining students will be vaccinated on the following days.

“We are glad that 93.5 percent of the parents of sixth-grade students in the school agreed to have their children vaccinated. The rest also agreed to vaccinate their children. However, because they are infected with Covid-19 or have not yet recovered from Covid-19 for at least 90 days according to the regulations of the Ministry of Health, so they will be vaccinated later," said Mr. Tran Van Luyen.

Dr. Nguyen Huu Thinh, Department of Examination of Cho Ray Hospital, added that, on the day, the medical team would inject 200 students of Hong Bang Secondary School. Currently, all preparations from facilities and emergency equipment to the number of Covid-19 vaccines are well prepared. Because vaccination subjects are children, besides consulting and screening carefully for each student, medical workers also need to know how to provide psychological support for each student and parent. Dr. Nguyen Huu Thinh also said that the vaccine used for children this time was the Moderna vaccine, with a dose of 0.25ml per child.

Mr. Duong Anh Duc, Vice Chairman of HCMC People's Committee, assessed that Hong Bang Secondary School has a spacious and cool space and suitable facilities to organize injections for children. However, children are a special object, so the organization of vaccination must be thorough and careful. Medical workers must take care of them psychologically and physically before receiving the injection and pay attention to follow-up after the injection. The injection teams are trained thoroughly to organize the best injections so that the children are safe and comfortable, and their parents also feel secure.

According to the Vice-Chairman of HCMC People's Committee, the city always creates the best conditions for children to study. One of those conditions is to create safety and peace of mind, especially for students who have not been vaccinated. Therefore, vaccination is a necessary condition for students to go to school with peace of mind, ensuring education quality and creating conditions for students to absorb knowledge better.