Over 55,000 people safely get AstraZeneca vaccine

• First officers of 198 Hospital get jabs with AstraZeneca vaccine
• Over 800,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine arrive in Vietnam
• Over 10,000 Vietnamese get AstraZeneca vaccine with no serious side-effects

Vietnamese health authorities have given emergency use approval for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, the first COVID-19 vaccine to obtain such authorization in the country.

The AstraZeneca shot has been granted conditional marketing or emergency use authorization in more than 70 countries and territories. It is also one of three vaccines approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) for emergency use.

Since March 8, the COVID-19 vaccination campaign have been rolled out in 19 cities and provinces nationwide, with 55,151 frontline workers the fight against the pandemic administered the AstraZeneca shots as of April 8.

Anticipated side effects were recorded in 33 percent of those receiving AstraZeneca shots, including redness at the injection site, fever, tiredness, nausea, and headache, but they were mostly mild and went away within one or two days without needing treatment.

Meanwhile, only 1 percent of those receiving AstraZeneca shots experienced severe allergic reaction, and their health was stable after receiving treatment at medical stations for one or two days.

The Heath Ministry affirmed that, the rate of post-injection reaction observed in Vietnam in the past month is equivalent to the warnings from the manufacturer. There is no cases of unusual blood clots after inoculation.

Therefore, the vaccination principle of Vietnam, which puts safety first, has been carried out methodically and effectively in the first month.