A health worker in Hanoi prepares an AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine shot for administration.

The shipments of further vaccines from the remainder of the deal for an additional 25 million doses, signed between Vietnam Vaccine Company (VNVC) and AstraZeneca during Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s visit to the UK on November 2, will begin later this month and continue throughout 2022.

Nitin Kapoor, Chairman and General Director at AstraZeneca Vietnam and Asia Area Frontier Markets, said this shipment marked an important milestone in the journey to protect public health and stimulate economic recovery in Vietnam.

The foundation that helps AstraZeneca fulfil this order in a timely manner is the cooperation and close coordination between AstraZeneca, the Vietnamese Government, VNVC and the Ministry of Health, which helped facilitate the agreement.

The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine was the first to obtain conditional approval for emergency use in Vietnam and also the first to have arrived in the country and first to have been administered for Vietnamese people.

To date, Vietnam has received over 157 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with 142.2 million shots already distributed.

About 131 million doses have been administered in the country. 

Source: VNS