8 localities complete first phase of COVID-19 vaccination

• More than 48,000 Vietnamese get COVID-19 vaccine with no serious side-effects
• Nearly 40,000 Vietnamese get COVID-19 vaccine with no serious side-effects
• Vietnam to accept three groups of people with vaccine passport

As many as 58,037 people from 19 cities and provinces across the country have been inoculated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the Ministry of Health said on April 10.

Healthcare workers are among those who get the vaccine shot first in Vietnam.

The first to be inoculated are those on the frontline against the pandemic – doctors, nurses directly treating COVID-19 patients, medical workers who collect clinical samples and test for COVID-19, contact tracers, and members of community anti-COVID-19 groups.

Vietnam has begun to roll out its COVID-19 vaccination campaign starting on March 8, using doses from the first batch of 117,000 doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca that arrived in the country on February 24. The COVID-19 vaccination program was carried out in 19 provinces and cities in the first phase. 

To date, 8 provinces and cities, including Tay Ninh, Long An, Ba Ria- Vung Tau, Khanh Hoa, Danang, Gia Lai, Hoa Binh and Ha Giang completed the first phase of vaccination of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

Initial reports from the vaccination sites indicate no serious post-injection reactions. According to the Ministry of Health, several cases of anaphylaxis have been reported and they have all been handled promptly.

Vietnam expects to get 60 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses this year, half purchased and the other half from COVAX. The first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX initiative to Vietnam arrived in Hanoi on April 1, with a batch of more 800,000 AstraZeneca vaccines.

Besides AstraZeneca, on March 23, the country approved the Sputnik V vaccine of Russia for use. The health ministry and vaccine suppliers, pharmacy firms have been working with other vaccine producers including Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Indian firms and those from other countries on vaccine supplies.

Vietnam also expects to see the completion of the third phase trial of its homegrown COVID-19 vaccine – Nanovax in late September.