According to a statement by Rana Flowers, UNICEF Representative in Vietnam, on behalf of COVAX Facility, due to production delays of COVID-19 vaccine distributed through COVAX, the projected deliveries to all countries have had to be delayed, and the amounts to be sent have been reviewed and adjusted.
"This means that Vietnam is now due to receive 811,200 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the next three weeks," the statement said. "This quantity is smaller than previously announced for the first shipment and based on an equitable pro-rata distribution of available doses between all participant countries."
Based on initial information shared by the manufacturer, the aim remains to deliver a total of 4,176,000 doses to Vietnam by the end of May, pending operational and supply constraints.
"In this early phase of COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, vaccine manufacturers require time to scale and optimize their production processes," Rana Flowers added.
Vietnam received the first batch of 117,600 AstraZeneca vaccine doses on February 24 and began administering these doses to more than 36,000 frontline health workers since March 8.
The Vietnamese Ministry of Health on Tuesday approved Russia's Sputnik V vaccine for emergency use in Vietnam. This is the second COVID-19 vaccine approved in the country so far.
Sputnik V, developed by Russian Gamaleya Institute, has an efficacy rate of 91.6%, according to an interim analysis of the Phase 3 clinical trials published in the medical journal The Lancet in early February.
Last week, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev brought 1,000 doses of Sputnik V vaccine to donate to Vietnam following an order from Russian President Vladimir Putin.