Health ministry: COVID-19 booster for 12-17-year-olds five months after last dosage

The Vietnamese Ministry of Health has issued instructions for giving youngsters aged 12 to 17 the third COVID-19 vaccine dose/booster.

According to an agreement prepared by Deputy Minister of Healthcare Nguyễn Thị Liên HÆ°Æ¡ng and distributed to local healthcare departments, Pasteur institutes, and sanitation and epidemiological institutes, the booster would be Pfizer injections (Comirnaty) given 5 months after the 2nd dose.

The dose is 0.3ml, which is the same as the primary course dose for this age group. Booster doses can be prolonged for up to 3 months after contracting COVID infection.

The health ministry has requested that health departments submit the number of vaccinations required for this booster launch by June 20th, 2022, and that the National Institute for Hygiene and Epidemiology ensure enough supply and allocation for areas.

Pfizer shots for the primary course for children in this age range were cleared only in late October of last year, and the vaccination was originally rolled out in HCM City, after the country's acute epidemic there started to disappear.

Over 225 million vaccines have been administered in the country to date, with first and second dose coverage in children aged 12 to 17 years approaching 100% and 97%, respectively.

The health ministry has called for the completion of the third dose for adults and the deployment of primary vaccine courses for children aged 5 to 12 years old in the second quarter of this year, in accordance with the government's recommendation.