Approximately 30 million doses of the AstraZeneca were imported into Vietnam for local use during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, many countries also donated the vaccine to Vietnam to support the national vaccination campaign.

The number of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine previously licensed for circulation had already expired and after that, the vaccine was no longer imported into Vietnam.

There are currently no vials of such vaccine left in the country, said the representative.

The COVID-19 pandemic was brought under control in Vietnam a couple of years ago.

Meanwhile, the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology also confirmed that Vietnam has no longer used AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine for vaccination since July 2023.

In December 2023, the Institute’s storage system was preserving more than 432,000 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine with an expiration date until the end of September 2024.

AstraZeneca announced on May 7 that it has initiated the worldwide recall of its COVID-19 vaccine, following the admission by the UK pharmaceutical company that the vaccine may cause extremely rare side-effects such as blood clots and low platelet count.

The Ministry of Health played down public worries about the side-effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine, saying the side-effects, if any, only occur within 28 days after being administered and people who have been vaccinated should not panic.

The Ministry of Health has developed strict vaccination procedures to ensure people’s safety, said Luong Ngoc Khue, director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management under the Ministry of Health.

Among millions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine administered, only a few cases of reactions related to post-vaccination Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS) or blood clotting have been recorded, but they were not life-threatening.

Vietnam has stopped using the AstraZeneca vaccine and no additional cases of adverse reactions after injection have been documented.