Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - About 490,000 children in Vietnam were confirmed tohave contracted the COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, according toDeputy Health Minister Nguyen Truong Son.

Speaking at a recent national conference on guidance and care for COVID-19 infectedchildren, Son said the number accounts for 19.2 percent of people agedunder 18 years in the country.

4.8 percent of children between 13-17 years have tested positive for thevirus; 8 percent aged 6-12; 2.8 percent aged 3-5; and3.6 percent aged 0-2, he noted.

Only 165 child deaths have been attributed to COVID-19, accounting for0.42 percent of the country’s total COVID-19 deaths – 0.11 percent in the 13-17years group, 0.1 percent in the 6-12 range, and 0.18 percent in the 0-2 range.

While the death rate remains low, there are many cases of long-COVID symptoms,including post-COVID complications and some serious but rare multisysteminflammatory syndrome cases, the health official said.

NguyenTrong Khoa, deputy head of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatmentunder the health ministry, said as of February 7, among 516,163 cases ofCOVID-19 detected in HCM City, the former epicentre of the fourth wave in Vietnam,32,429 were children, or 6.3 percent of the total.

Ananalysis of 2,478 COVID-19 infected children in HCM City revealed 165 cases ofserious disease, with 13.9 percent suffering from overweight issues and 8.5 percentfrom other health issues.

Khoa said the focus should be on protecting vulnerable groups of children –ones who are obese, under treatment for chronic health problems,immunocompromised patients, etc. – as they are at disproportionately high risksof severe disease and deaths when infected.

Inrecent times, the health ministry has been closely coordinating with theeducation ministry and local authorities to expedite the vaccination of childrenaged 12-17 to allow the safe reopening of schools with the current vaccinationrate reaching 90 percent.

A total of 16.4 million doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine have been administeredto this age group, including 7.96 million second doses, while the inoculationof children aged 5-12 is slated to start soon, also with Pfizer shots./.