People continue to receive the 3rd and 4th doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to prevent the BA.5 variant.

It is necessary to continue to speed up the vaccination progress to prevent the BA.5 variant. Photo: My Ha

Information from the Ministry of Health: Up to now, the whole country has administered 45,436,997 doses of the 3rd COVID-19 vaccine, reaching a rate of 67.7%; and 4,617,673 doses of the 4th COVID-19 vaccine (reaching a rate of 6.9%). Provinces with low rates of 4th dose injection include: Phu Tho (1.2%); Hai Duong (1.6%); Bac Kan (0.4%); Nghe An (1.5%); Quang Nam (2.3%); Dong Thap (2.3%)... There are 3 provinces with high rates of 4th dose injection including Bac Giang (24.7%); Quang Ninh (20.9%); Hau Giang (15.6%).

Professor, Dr. Phan Trong Lan - Director of the Department of Preventive Medicine, Ministry of Health said: Currently, many people are concerned that the 3rd and 4th injections of the COVID-19 vaccine will have stronger side effects than the previous injections. However, of the 4 injections, the 3rd and 4th injections are meant to be a reminder of the 1st and 2nd injections, so they should be in the middle of the reaction level of the 1st and 2nd injections. For example, with the Pfizer vaccine, the 2nd injection has a higher reaction than the 1st injection, while the 3rd and 4th injections have less reaction than the 2nd injection.

According to the World Health OrganizationBA.5 variantis spreading rapidly around the world and this variant has now entered our country. To prevent the disease, Prof. Dr. Phan Trong Lan stated: “Vaccination continues to be a very important factor. When we inject the 3rd and 4th doses, we will further strengthen our immunity and especially prevent the BA.5 variant. If infected, the disease will also be milder after the booster shots.”

Regarding the content that Nghe An has a low rate of 4th dose of COVID-19 vaccine injection (1.5%), Dr. Chu Trong Trang - Deputy Director in charge of Nghe An Center for Disease Control said: Up to now, all COVID-19 vaccines allocated by the Ministry of Health have been fully vaccinated by Nghe An province for people, without any surplus or waste. The rate of people receiving the 3rd dose of COVID-19 vaccine is 75.9%.

As for the 4th dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, only a few people who are regularly exposed to the risk of infection have been vaccinated. In the coming time, based on the number of vaccines allocated by the Ministry of Health, Nghe An will continue to deploy the 4th dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, at which time the rate will be increased.

Dr. Chu Trong Trang added: Recently, the Center for Disease Control of Nghe An province issued Official Dispatch No. 581/KSBT-PCBTN requesting vaccination facilities in the whole province to continue to effectively implement a number of contents related to COVID-19 vaccination.

People need to continue to actively support and proactively get vaccinated against COVID-19. To get vaccinated, people need to go to vaccination facilities in the province to register, receive advice and will be vaccinated for free.