Preschooler parents hesitate vaccination for fear of side effect
The Deputy Director of the City Department of Education and Training also asked schools to further improve epidemic prevention and control for day-boarding, boarding, and eating in educational facilities’ canteen.
Any school that isn’t qualified to organize such activities will be asked to stop organizing to ensure the safety of students.
Besides, Mr. Dung also noted that schools need to properly distinguish between two groups of students including students with Covid-19 and their close contacts. Students with Covid-19 are confirmed to be infected with Covid-19 and they must receive health care, rest and treatment regimes in accordance with regulations of health authorities.
At a briefing on the prevention of the Covid-19 epidemic organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training on March 11, representatives of many district education and training departments said that many parents of primary students and sixth graders agreed for their children to get vaccinated, but parents of preschoolers have still hesitated about vaccination for fear of side effects.
Ms. Nguyen Thi My Dung, Deputy Head of Department of Education and Training in District 3, informed that the percentage of parents agreeing to have their children vaccinated against Covid-19 was very high in primary school with 94 percent and 6th grade with 77.5 percent. However, more than 50 percent of preschool parents agreed for their children to get vaccinated.
Similarly, in District 10, Head of Education and Training Department Nguyen Thanh Van said that the locality has now made a list of students participating in Covid-19 vaccination between the ages of 5 and 11 years old. It is expected that next week, the Department of Education and Training will report to the Steering Committee for Disease Prevention and Control a list of injection sites. Preschool teachers continue to encourage parents to agree to have their children vaccinated.
In the older age group, Principal of Nguyen Tat Thanh High School in District 6 Le Van Anh complained that many students are negligent in implementing 5K regulations such as not using masks, or keeping a distance according to the regulations of the health industry. Worse, students still celebrate birthdays and eat outside, increasing the risk of disease transmission in schools.
Accordingly, the school managers have asked homeroom teachers to regularly discuss to strengthen cooperation with parents in reminding students, minimizing the risk of disease spread in the school.
According to Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training Duong Tri Dung, currently, about 200 cases of infected students are detected every day at school on average. The number of cases has not shown any sign of decline but still has complicated developments, requiring schools to be flexible in transforming learning forms.
If parents expected their child, who is infected with Covid-19 still participate in online learning, or the student is asymptomatic, schools can flexibly arrange an appropriate studying time but must take heed of students’ health condition. Particularly for close contacts, which are required to be isolated at home to monitor their health, they still join online learning.
