Vietnam on Monday morning launched a national Covid-19 vaccination campaign in the first three selected venues.
A health worker in Hai Duong Province gets the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine on March 8
Frontline healthcare workers at the Hanoi-based National Hospital for Tropical Diseases, the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases, and people in the Covid-19 hotspot of Hai Duong Province have been selected to receive first shots this time.
Three Deputy Ministers of Health came to oversee the vaccination in Hanoi, HCM City and Hai Duong on March 8.
This is the first time Vietnam has launched the national Covd-19 vaccination campaign, using more than 117,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine imported last month.
The National Hospital for Tropical Diseases have been given 450 doses, the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases 900 doses and Hai Duong Province 32,900 doses.
On March 10, the vaccination will be further carried out in 18 other localities.
The vaccine has passed quality tests by leading professionals from the Vietnamese Ministry of Health and their counterparts from the Republic of Korea.
Top priority will be given to the safety of the vaccine, Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said at a meeting on Sunday, adding doctors have been equipped with necessary knowledge to deal with possible emergency cases.
The vaccination will be monitored by representatives of foreign organisations in Vietnam. Foreign media workers will be also invited to give news coverage of the event.
Vietnam imported more than 117,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in late February. This is the first batch of the 30 million doses that Vietnam is expected to receive from AstraZeneca this year under a recently-signed deal with the manufacturer.
It is anticipated to receive another 30 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine this year from COVAX, a COVID-19 vaccination mechanism co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO), GAVI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
Vietnam is negotiating to import a further 30 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine of the United States this year.
