Vietnam to purchase 40 million doses of Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine

T&T Group, a multi-sectoral economic conglomerate, will represent Vietnam to conduct negotiations with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) for the purchase of the Russian vaccine.

T&T has been assigned to mobilise funds from legal sources, except for capital from the State budget and the national COVID-19 vaccine fund.  

The Sputnik V vaccine was approved for emergency use in Vietnam by the Ministry of Health on March 23.

This is the first COVID-19 vaccine registered in the world and the second vaccine licensed by the Vietnamese Ministry of Health after AstraZeneca.

Vietnam expressed its desire to purchase the Sputnik V vaccine in August 2020, and it has since negotiated with the Russian side to access the vaccine supply for local use.

In July, the Russian side agreed to supply Vietnam with 20 million doses of Sputnik V in 2021.

To ensure vaccine security in the coming year, the Ministry of Health also assigned its agencies to negotiate with the Russian side on vaccine protection and technology transfer for Vietnam.

The Company for Vaccine and Biological Production No.1 (VABIOTECH) reached an agreement with the Russian counterpart to manufacture glass vials to bottle the vaccine in Vietnam, starting in July 2021 with a designated capacity of five million doses a month.

To date, Vietnam has received more than nine million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Sinopharm, and through COVAX Facility.