Over 10,000 Vietnamese get AstraZeneca vaccine with no serious side-effects
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| Frontline healthcare workers are the first to be given the AstraZeneca vaccine shot in Vietnam. |
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. On March 13, A further 4,793 people received COVID-19 vaccines, bringing the country’s total to 10,041.
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.
The northern province of Hai Duong, which has recorded more than 700 local cases to date, leads the list of 12 localities that have started COVID-19 vaccination campaigns with 6,287 people vaccinated so far. The province received 33,000 doses, the largest portion of the 117,000-dose batch.
The northern province of Hung Yen and Bac Giang followed in second and third places, with 840 and 823 people. HCM City has given the jabs to 774 people, while Hanoi has vaccinated 163.
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.
Local health authorities ordered all those scheduled to get the COVID-19 vaccine jabs to fully declare their health conditions to vaccine administrators. The vaccinated will also be regularly examined to evaluate the immunogenicity of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The country has ordered 30 million doses from British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca. Tthe National Expanded Immunization Program revealed that, Vietnam will receive 5,657,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine in March and April, all made by AstraZeneca.
