The first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine has arrived in Vietnam for the national COVID-19 vaccination campaign which was launch on March 8.

According to the National Expanded Immunization Programme, Vietnam is due to receive 1,373,800 doses in March and a further 2,803,000 doses in April.

These are the first batches of COVID-19 COVAX vaccine Vietnam is poised to get over two months.

The COVAX Facility has agreed to roll out 30 million doses of AstraZeneca for Vietnam this year.

COVAX, the overarching effort to accelerate development and access to COVID vaccines, is co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the World Health Organization (WHO) working in partnership with UNICEF as well as the World Bank, manufacturers and civil society organizations, and others.

In addition, another 1.48 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine the Ministry of Health is purchasing from AstraZeneca will arrive in Vietnam in April.

Late last month, the first batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine numbering 117,600 doses arrived in Vietnam for the national COVID-19 vaccination programme.

AstraZeneca has reached a deal with the Ministry of Health to supply 30 million doses to Vietnam this year.

The first AstraZeneca vaccine doses were administered to hundreds of frontline healthcare workers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and in high-risk areas of Hai Duong, the epicenter of the country’s latest coronavirus outbreak, on March 8.

The government of Vietnam has planned to vaccinate all of its citizens to protect them from COVID-19. Besides 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, it is negotiating with Pfizer of the United States to purchase another 30 million this year.

The Ministry of Health is currently considering importing two more COVID-19 vaccines produced by Moderna of the United States and Generium of Russia. 

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