Covid-19 vaccination campaign underway for Arakan State students in 5-12 age group 

By DMG 10 Jun 2022

DMG Newsroom
10 June 2022, Sittwe 

Students in Arakan State from 5 to 12 years old have been administered the Covid-19 vaccine since schools reopened on June 2, with 82,788 children having received their first dose as of June 8, according to the Arakan State Education Department. 

“We are providing Covid-19 vaccines to students aged 5 to 12, with the approval of their parents,” said U Aung Kyaw Nyein, assistant director of the state’s Education Department. 

The 82,778 children to receive their first vaccine jab thus far represent just over 25 percent of the 320,087 students in the targeted age group who are enrolled in Arakan State. As of June 8, 82,637 students from Arakan State’s public schools and 151 from state monastic schools had received their first Covid-19 vaccine dose of the two-shot regimen, according to the Education Department. 

Daw Aye Than Shwe, the mother of a 3rd grader from Baw Lone Gwin ward in Sittwe, said she approved the vaccination of her son so that students can learn with less concern about the possibility of contracting Covid-19. 

“They asked if I would allow my child to receive the vaccine. And I allowed it. They vaccinate the children only with the approval of parents. There is nothing to worry about,” she said. 

The Arakan State Public Health Department is inoculating children against Covid-19 with the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine. 

Since February, new coronavirus infections have declined dramatically both in Arakan State and across Myanmar, according to the regime’s Ministry of Health. The ministry said just 12 new cases were reported nationwide on June 10, down from a peak of about 6,000 new infections reported daily at the height of the virus’s worst wave in July of last year.