After a sluggish start, Saigon has sped up inoculation efforts, becoming Vietnam’s locality with the most vaccine coverage.
On October 16, the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control (HCDC) released the latest statistics on the city’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign, reports Zing. Data from the center shows that 98.7% of resident Saigoneers over 18 have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. These include shots from Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech, Sinopharm and Moderna.
According to Lao Dong, only four cities/provinces in Vietnam have surpassed the 90% mark: Saigon, Long An, Binh Duong and Khanh Hoa. The former three are the hardest-hit in the country. Quang Ninh is in the 80–90% range, followed by 10 others in the 70–80% range.
Among eligible adults in Saigon, 75.7% have received both doses of any vaccine. The number is 87.57% for residents over 65 years old. Since the start of the inoculation campaign earlier this year, the municipal health department has administered over 12.5 million shots, about 5.4 million of which were second shots.
Districts that have fully vaccinated 100% of adults over 18 are Phu Nhuan, Cu Chi, District 5 and District 11, followed by District 7 at 99.8%. District 6, 10, Nha Be, Can Gio and Thu Duc City have reported vaccination rates of over 90%.
While efforts to immunize adults are still ongoing, on October 14, the Ministry of Health greenlit the vaccination of Vietnamese children aged 12 to 17. According to ministry guidelines, vaccines are prioritized for teens aged 16 and 17 at first, and will gradually trickle down the age ladder.
No specific type of vaccine has been assigned for children at the time of writing, though the ministry noted that both shots will be of the same vaccine. Parents will need to sign a consent form prior to the shots.
[Photo: Personal information forms are distributed at a vaccination point in Binh Thanh.]
