Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Mr. Dam said the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education and Training must work together to develop a school health monitoring system which ensures that all children who go to school have their health checked.

Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen said that the Ministry has obtained enough vaccine of the appropriate kind to be ready to vaccinate children aged 12-17. Vietnam has more than 8 million students aged 12-17, so 16 million vaccine doses will be required.

The Ministry of Health will administer two doses of vaccine to 95 percent of those students in the fourth quarter of this year.

The Ministry is consulting international and local experts and considering other vaccine sources before deciding whether to give vaccines to the 14 million children aged 3 to 11, Tuyen said.