Daily infections continue to plunge as child vaccinations start in major cities
VOV.VN - A total 18,474 new COVID-19 cases were recorded on April 16, a decline of 1,602 cases from the previous day, according to the Ministry of Health.
Hanoi remains among the leading localities in terms of COVID-19 infections recorded on a daily basis, with 1,361 cases, trailed by Phu Tho with 1,070 and Bac Giang with 874.
The overall infection tally now stands at more than 10.4 million, ranking 12th out of 227 countries and territories globally.
An additional 10 deaths were also recorded over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of fatalities up to 42,934, accounting for 0.4% of the total caseload.
The total number of recoveries also rose to over 8.93 million after a total of 68,330 patients were declared free from the virus on the same day.
As of April 15, the country had injected more than 209.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
On April 16, Hanoi started the process of administering COVID-19 vaccines to over 95% of children aged five to 11 in the city. There are currently around one million children in the age group in the capital.
Meanwhile in Ho Chi Minh City’s vaccination campaign for all sixth graders and fifth graders in certain schools also began on the same day. There are around 900,000 children aged five to 11 in the southern city.
The Health Ministry currently aims to vaccinate 8.2 million young children nationwide by the second quarter of the year. However, roughly 30% of parents remain hesitant, a survey conducted by the Ministry revealed.
The nation commenced its COVID-19 vaccination campaign for children aged five to 11 on April 14 with 160 sixth graders in the northern province of Quang Ninh, whilst other localities are projected to begin vaccination next week.