Majority parents agree with Covid vaccination for kids aged 5-11: health ministry

A survey on 450,000 parents with children aged under 12, issued Wednesday by the Ministry of Health, revealed 60.6 percent of respondents agreed with vaccinating their children against Covid-19.

Only 1.9 percent disagreed with the proposal, 29.1 percent said they were considering, while 7.6 percent said they would agree with the vaccination if it is required.

The survey was conducted in all 63 localities by the ministry’s Health Strategy and Policy Institute. No other details of the survey was made available.

Pham Quang Thai, head of the Expanded Immunization Office in the North under the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, said the figures in the survey mean parents don’t trust the scientific community. Disinformation is rampant and an obstacle in the coronavirus fight, he stressed.

Echoing Thai’s opinion, Duong Thi Hong, head of the Expanded Immunization Office under the health ministry, said medical authorities need to communicate better on Covid-19 vaccine safety and effectiveness so parents would be encouraged to vaccinate their children.

Children aged 5-11 would also benefit from herd immunity through high vaccination coverage, like the 12-17 age group, which has a vaccine coverage of 95 percent, she added.

Like the age 12-17 group, children aged 5-11 would be vaccinated either at school or medical stations. Children with chronic or underlying conditions, including obesity, would be vaccinated at hospitals.

The health ministry has yet to announce a timeline and how many children aged 5-11 would be vaccinated. Previously, it had proposed purchasing 21.9 million Pfizer vaccine doses for vaccinating children aged 5-11.

Health minister Nguyen Thanh Long said while it is not mandatory to vaccinate children against Covid-19, it is highly recommended.

A survey by VnExpress on 171,000 readers said 31 percent agreed with vaccinating children aged 5-11, while 67 percent disagreed.