Vietnam pledges 170 million doses of vaccine for nearly 70% of its population

Minister Tran Van Son, Chairman of Government Office and Spokesperson of the Government speaks at the press conference.

Responding to the questions on purchase of COVID-19 vaccines, Vice Health Minister Truong Quoc Cuong said the Government encouraged and welcomed localities and eligible businesses to join the Government’s effort to import COVID-19 vaccines from reliable COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers while mobilizing all organizations, businesses and individuals to donate money to the vaccine fund.

Cuong added that, as the vaccine was recently imported in an urgent manner, it has some characteristics different from the previously-used one. Although the quality of the vaccine is guaranteed by the manufacturer, it may have different side effects and reactions requiring more medical monitoring. Additionally, the vaccine must be stored in – 75 degrees Celsius.

The vice health minister highlighted that the Health Ministry was assigned to buy 150 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines; that means 70% of the over-18-year-olds will be fully vaccinated.

Vice Finance Minister Ta Anh Tuan.

More vaccine shipments will arrive in Vietnam, starting from August. Pfizer promised that it would ship 15.5 million doses to the country in Q3 of 2021 and another shipment of the same quantity in the following quarter.

Meanwhile, 30 million doses committed by AstraZeneca and Covax will be delivered by the end of the year while 20 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine have been purchased.

The vice health minister affirmed, “Some 170 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been ordered, but the health sector has also drawn up alternative plans in case the shipment cannot be delivered as scheduled.

Vice Health Minister Truong Quoc Cuong emphasized the important role of the industrial zones in fulfilling the “dual goals” of the Government. So workers at industrial zones are the priority group to get vaccinated.

The Health Ministry has allocated 150,000 doses to each of the two pandemic hotspots of Bac Ninh and Bac Giang. The Ministry of Health also directed the CDC of provinces and municipalities to pay attention to epidemic prevention work in industrial zones.

Vice Minister of Education and Training speaks at the event.

Regarding the vaccine fund, Vice Minister of Finance Ta Anh Tuan said that the ministry has raised 104 billion VND for the COVID-19 vaccine fund. In addition, the Ministry of Health has received a total donation of about 1,000 billion VND.

The Commission for the Management of State Capital at Enterprises also said that State-run enterprises under the management of the Committee have pledged to support about 2,000 billion VND.

Vice Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son also unveiled various plans to carry out the 2021 National High School Examination in response to different possible situations of the pandemic. According the ministry, the examination will take place on July 7 and 8 if the pandemic situation does not deteriorate.

 The ministry also has plans to organize a specific examination for students who cannot take part in the official examine due to pandemic-related reasons.