Vietnam receives additional 1.68 million COVID-19 vaccine doses through COVAX Facility

May 17, 2021 | 11:24

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Vietnam received on May 16 the second shipment of 1.68 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from the COVAX Facility, increasing the country’s vaccine supply.

vietnam receives additional 168 million covid 19 vaccine doses through covax facility

Over 1.68 million COVID-19 vaccine doses through COVAX Facility arrived in Vietnam on May 16

This delivery of the vaccines comes in addition to a first batch delivered in April 2021 and is part of the 4.1 million vaccine doses committed to Vietnam, free of charge, by the COVAX Facility, the international partnership created to ensure global equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.

The COVAX Facility is co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovations (CEPI), GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, World Health Organization (WHO), and UNICEF as key delivery partners.

COVID-19 vaccine doses arriving through COVAX Facility

Since the arrival of the first shipment of vaccines from the COVAX Facility in April, more than 876,346 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Vietnam, mainly to health workers and other frontline workers. The additional vaccines will help the Ministry of Health to expand coverage and reach more people from the priority groups, while also providing a second dose to those who have already received the first dose.

The latest shipment of Vaxzevria vaccines (previously called COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca) was developed jointly by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford. This batch is shipped from Catalent Biologics’ manufacturing facility in Anagni, Italy. The Vaxzevria COVID-19 vaccine has received the Emergency Use Authorisation from the WHO and has been used successfully in Vietnam since March 2021 under its previous name.

Vietnam reported 37 new COVID-19 infections on the morning of May 17, thus increasing the country’s total number of locally transmitted cases to 1,176 since April 27.

On May 16, the country recorded the 37th death case of the pandemic.