The first batch of COVID-19 vaccine arrives in Vietnam

30 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine will be imported to Vietnam in the first half of 2021

After arriving at Tan Son Nhat International Airport, the batch will be stored in the dedicated cold storage system of Vietnam Vaccine JSC (VNVC) and AstraZeneca in Ho Chi Minh City.

The batch arrived in Vietnam earlier than originally expected in February. Therefore, the implementation plan for COVID-19 vaccination was also completed for March 2021.

The first batch of COVID-19 vaccine arrives in Vietnam

The batch is among 30 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine VNVC ordered in 2021. Other doses will be delivered to Vietnam in batches.

In addition, the COVAX global vaccine alliance will aid Vietnam with about 4.9 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines in the first and second quarters, and 33 million more doses in the third quarter.

VNVC is in charge of importing this vaccine. It is also the only company eligible to be licensed by the Ministry of Health (MoH) to import vaccines, under the emergency anti-epidemic mechanism.

According to the plan of the MoH, the first batch of COVID-19 vaccine will be given to 11 priority groups, consisting of medical workers and staff participating in COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control.

“Human resources and facilities are readily prepared to serve up to 4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine per month, as well as ensure safe injections”, Bui Kim Khanh, director of VNVC said.

After the arrival of the first batch of vaccines, VNVC will bring to Vietnam 30 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine of AstraZeneca in the first half of 2021.

Priority groups and people in the country will be officially vaccinated with high quality COVID-19 vaccine such as the ones used in Europe and many major countries in the world, contributing to controlling the panpidemic, and gradually restoring the economy.

Commenting on the arrival of the vaccines, Nitin Kapoor, chairman cum general director of AstraZeneca Vietnam said, “We are grateful for the Vietnamese government and the Ministry of Health (MoH) for their proactive vaccine approach strategy and trust in our vaccine that made this early delivery in Vietnam possible. Under their guidance, these first doses will undergo final quality control testing before they are transferred to the MoH/VNVC to begin the inoculation of priority groups. Having operated in Vietnam for 27 years, AstraZeneca is proud to support the country’s fight against COVID-19 and economic recovery in such a meaningful way with our vaccine supply. We will continue to work closely with the government, the MoH, and VNVC to deliver our vaccine to the people in the fastest and safest way possible.”