Health workers at the HCMC Hospital for Tropical Diseases were the first to receive Covid-19 vaccination in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: SGGP

Ho Chi Minh City currently has about 9 million people over 18 years old as well as migrants. The city, thus, needs up to 18 million doses of vaccine against COVID-19.

The local Department of Health has proposed the City People's Committee to buy about 5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine.

It said that there are three types of Covid-19 vaccines in the world licensed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In Vietnam, four manufacturers are currently researching and conducting clinical trials of Covid-19 vaccine. It is expected that in the second quarter of 2022, the domestically produced Covid-19 vaccine will be marketed.

According to the municipal Department of Health, on February 9, the Ministry of Health approved the plan for receiving, storing, distributing and using Covid-19 vaccines supplied by COVAX Facility for 2021-2022. However, the planned volume of vaccines allocated to HCM City is not enough to meet demand.

The local Department of Health has coordinated with pharmaceutical trading firms to find other sources of supply of vaccine to vaccinate priority subjects as directed by the Government.

This agency said that the number of people age 18 and older and migrants in the city who are subjects for Covid-19 vaccination is about 9 million. The city, thus, needs at least 18 million doses of vaccine.

The HCM City Department of Health has negotiated with Moderna and this firm agreed to provide 5 million doses of mRNA-1273 vaccine to the city in the third quarter. The Department of Health has asked for the municipal government’s approval for the purchase of Covid-19 vaccine.

Funding will be mobilized from the State budget, domestic and foreign organizations, and individuals raisedby the Vietnam Fatherland Front in HCM City.

According to the Department of Health, mRNA-1273 vaccine of Moderna (USA) can be preserved for 6 months at a temperature of -20°C or 30 days at a temperature of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius. The effectiveness of the vaccine is 94.1%.

Covid-19 vaccinations begin in Vietnam

On the morning of March 8, the first Vietnamese were injected with Covid-19 vaccine at four places: