The proposal, sent to the municipal People's Committee last week, says students from grade 7 to 12 in all institutions should be fully vaccinated. This would help them study in safety and also help maintain the quality of education amid persistent coronavirus impacts, the department said.

Nguyen Van Hieu, director of the municipal Department of Education and Training, said Monday that around 80 percent of teachers in the southern city have received at least one shot of a Covid-19 vaccine. Once the coronavirus situation is put under control and students and teachers are fully vaccinated, in-person classes can resume, he added.

Last Saturday, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had requested the health and education ministries to vaccinate children so the new school year could begin safely.

"Children that have been fully vaccinated can resume school normally along with certain coronavirus control measures, just like how some countries have already been doing, like Singapore," Chinh said.

HCMC is set to have around 1.71 million students and 80,000 teachers and school staff in the next school year that begins next month.

The southern city, epicenter of Vietnam's fourth novel Covid-19 wave, has recorded 215,810 cases. It has imposed a series of social distancing orders, including an ongoing lockdown starting August 23 that bans people from going out entirely.

For the time being, students in the city are expected to continue online classes after the new school year begins.