Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long has said that Vietnam will focus on the research and production of homegrown COVID-19 vaccines alongside imports, viewing this as a long-term strategy.

Vaccine nationalism has become alarming, as politicians have criticized the previous US President Donald Trump for his "America First" doctrine.

The General Department of Sports and Physical Training has made a list of coaches and athletes who will be given priority for Covid-19 vaccinations in preparation for the upcoming international sports tournaments.

Deputy Minister of Health Truong Quoc Cuong has said COVID-19 vaccination will begin right after the Ministry of Health receives an accreditation certificate 

The Government on February 26 issued Resolution No 21/NQ-CP regarding COVID-19 vaccine purchase and use.

The Ministry of Health will mobilize all public health facilities and medical students for a vaccination campaign that will use 100 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine this year, said the ministry’s top official at a recent meeting.

The Ministry of Health’s statistics show that more than 80% of Covid-19 patients in Vietnam had only mild symptoms such as mild fever, cough, and fatigue, and recovered on their own after about one week.

The Foreign Ministry’s Press Department is discussing with the Health Ministry to make it easier for foreign reporters to cover news about vaccination for Vietnamese citizens in line with prevention and control regulations.

Several provinces, enterprises and universities nationwide will provide free COVID-19 vaccinations to their residents, staff and students in order to share the financial burden for pandemic prevention and control.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has instructed the quick vaccination for people as more than 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have arrived in Vietnam.

A plane carrying the first batch of 117,600 doses of COVID-19 vaccine landed at HCM City-based Tan Son Nhat international airport at 10.40am this morning.

The northern province of Hai Duong, the country’s current largest hotspot of COVID-19, plans to conduct large-scale testing for the novel coronavirus, using Realtime-PCR technology, from February 24.

The second phase of the human trials of Nano Covax, a homegrown COVID-19 vaccine, will begin on February 26, following the first phase that has been proven safe.

Vietnam has negotiated to buy 60 million doses of vaccines and needs an additional 90 million doses, said Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long at a meeting on February 19.

Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long says the Covid-19 pandemic will not end in the first half of this year. He also asked provinces and cities to immediately prepare three scenarios to respond to the pandemic.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered the health sector to conduct all necessary measures to make COVID-19 vaccines available in Vietnam this month either through purchasing or from UN organisations.

Vietnam has completed the first phase of the human trials of Nano Covax, a homegrown COVID-19 vaccine, with the participation of 60 volunteers, the Vietnam Military Medical University said on February 8.

The Vietnam Vaccine Joint Stock Company (VNVC) has announced that it will import 30 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from the UK in the first half of 2020.

Vietnam has ordered 30 million doses of vaccine from the UK, with first doses are expected to arrive in the country in the first quarter this year to serve widespread vaccination.

A ceremony was held at the Hanoi Medical University on January 21 to kick-start clinical trials of COVIVAC, Vietnam’s second COVID-19 vaccine candidate and developed based on the new highly-infectious coronavirus variants.