COVID-19 infections fall, Moderna vaccine for children aged six to 11 approved

The majority of new cases were detected in Hanoi at 8,054, followed by Phu Tho province with 3,415 infections and Nghe An province with 3,399 cases.

Over the past 24 hours, 39 COVID-19 patients have died due to the virus, while the average death tally over the last seven day stood at 50.

Since the pandemic started in 2020, the nation’s death toll stands at 42,493 cases, or 0.4% of all infections.

In the latest wave that hit the country in April, 2021, more than 9.5 million cases have been confirmed, whilst over 7.5 million of them have since recovered.

The Ministry of Health also announced a further 250,482 recoveries the same day, bringing the total number of recovered cases up to more than 7.5 million.

As of March 30, more than 206 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered, with close to 189 million adults now fully inoculated against the virus.

In another move, the Drug Administration of Vietnam approved the use of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for children aged six to 11.

After evaluating scientific documents, the Advisory Council for the Registration of Circulation of Drugs and Medicinal Ingredients approved the Moderna vaccine for children aged six 11 in the nation.

Each dose for children will contain 50 micrograms of the vaccine, or half the doses given to adults, whilst a standard course will require two shots.

Previously, the Ministry of Health was granted approval from Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to receive 13.7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses for children, including nine million Moderna doses from Australia. Vaccination may start from the first week of April.

Furthermore, as of March 28 approximately 81% of people aged 18 and above nationwide have now received their third jab against COVID-19, according to the Ministry of Health.

Localities nationwide are in the process of redoubling efforts to ensure the schedule of the inoculation campaign.