First COVID-19 vaccine batch arrives in Vietnam
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| First batch of COVID-19 vaccine arrives at Tan Son Nhat airport |
A plane carrying the first batch of 117,600 doses of COVID-19 vaccine landed at Tan Son Nhat airport, Ho Chi Minh City, on February 24.
The vaccine was jointly studied and produced by AstraZeneca pharmaceutical company and the UK’s Oxford University
Deputy Health Minister, Truong Quoc Cuong and Emily Hamblin, British Consul General in HCM City, each holding their respective country’s flags, and representatives from the importer, Vietnam Vaccine JSC (VNVC), were present at the Tan Son Nha airport to welcome the delivery of 117,600 doses.
He also highlighted the significance of the vaccine delivery at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is erupting in Hai Duong, Hai Phong and Quang Ninh.With the delivery, Vietnam has become one of the first countries in Asia to access a prestigious vaccine in the world.
In order to achieve the dual goal of fighting the pandemic and developing the economy, it is necessary to increase vaccination to reach community immunity, he said.
The authority in Vietnam approved the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for urgent use in early February.
The vaccines will be used to inoculate more than 50,000 people who are seen as high risk, according to Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long. Health workers, diplomats and military personnel would be among the first to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The AstraZeneca vaccine has been shown to be well-tolerated and effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19. A single dose of the vaccine has an efficacy of 76 per cent against symptomatic COVD-19 in the first 90 days after vaccination, with no significant waning of protection during this period. Vaccine efficacy after the second dose was higher in those with a longer interval, reaching 81.3 per cent in those with a dosing interval of 12 weeks or more.
Vietnam has ordered 30 million doses from AstraZeneca.
Covax, a global mechanism for developing, manufacturing and procuring COVID-19 vaccine candidates that help member countries access vaccines as they become available, has pledged to provide Vietnam with 4.9 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the first half.
Vietnam was lauded globally for containing the virus for months using mass testing and strict quarantining, though has faced a recent new wave of infections.
The country has recorded 811 new COVID-19 cases since the latest outbreak started last month or about a third of its overall caseload of 2,403 infections since infections were first detected a year ago. Vietnam has reported 35 deaths due to the virus.
