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Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long speaks at an online meeting on March 5

During an online meeting on March 5, Long said it would take a while to gather the vaccine due to high demand and short global supply of the vaccine. The vaccines are also being rapidly produced. Reports from the manufacturers and evaluation boards show that they have protective antibodies against the virus for six months to a year.

“We’ll buy vaccines from other countries while keeping pushing for a locally-made vaccine,” Long said. “This is our long-term plan.”

After receiving the certificate for 117,000 doses of Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca on March 3, the ministry will hold a training course about receiving, storing and using the vaccine on March 6 and start giving the vaccine on March 8. The first doses will be given to front line workers at 18 facilities that are treating Covid-19 patients. Afterwards, the people in the outbreak areas in 13 cities and provinces will be vaccinated.

Nguyen Dac Vinh, Deputy Chief of the Office of the Party Central Committee, said even with the vaccine, all preventive measures will still be upheld to limit both community and imported cases.

“The Ministry of Health will be the only agency that manages and distribute the vaccine. Localities will not be allowed to negotiate to buy vaccine with private firms,” Vinh said.

At the meeting, the Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control urged to implement the immunisation programme under the vaccine equity principle of the UN. The public will be informed about the programme.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said, “We have been doing well without the vaccine before so in the coming time, everyone must stay vigilant and active.”

Minister of Health Nguyễn Thanh Long at Friday meeting of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control. — VNA/VNS Photo Doãn Tấn

HÀ NỘI — Vaccinations using the recently-imported AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine are expected to start on Monday, Minister of Health Nguyễn Thanh Long informed a meeting of the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control on Friday.

The first batch comprising over 117,600 doses of the vaccine manufactured in the Republic of Korea (RoK), arrived in Việt Nam on February 24 . After holding working sessions with the producer, Việt Nam has obtained an accreditation certificate for the batch from the RoK.

Long said the doses, verified by the ministry, met the conditions for vaccination in Việt Nam.

On Saturday, the health minister will chair a conference to launch the vaccination plan and provide training for medical staff nationwide in the use and storage of the vaccine, as well as the handling of post-injection complications.

According to the official, priority for vaccination will be given to people at the front line of the fight against COVID-19, including health, army, police, customs and immigration personnel; those working in sectors offering essential services like aviation, transport, tourism and education; people with chronic illnesses or above 65 years old; those living in pandemic-hit areas; the poor and beneficiaries of social welfare.

Those who get the shots will be monitored via digital health records and receive e-certificates for their completion of inoculation.

Five million doses of vaccines, mostly manufactured by AstraZeneca, are expected to be provided to Việt Nam this year through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) Facility programme conducted by the World Health Organization, GAVI, UNICEF and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

Another 25 million doses under this initiative are slated to arrive in Việt Nam next year.

At the meeting of the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control on Friday, Deputy Prime Minister Vũ Đức Đam said the safety of the vaccination programme should be ensured at the highest level as a task of utmost importance.

“The mass vaccination might have incidents. If we don’t prepare well, the incidents will turn into serious ones,” he told the meeting.

He urged for accelerating the research and production of locally-made vaccines, saying “the process must follow all of the requested steps but must be completed as soon as possible”.

Việt Nam has three local vaccine candidates, one of which has finished the first trial phase with good results and is in the second phase. The other two will enter human trials in the near future.

“If Việt Nam can successfully develop domestic vaccines, we can have enough stocks for the population of 100 million people. According to preliminary information, the COVID-19 vaccine only produces antibodies for a certain time. It is likely that the vaccines must be injected repeatedly every year. This is also an opportunity for Việt Nam’s vaccine study capacity to reach a new level in order to prepare and respond to other diseases that may occur in the future.”

“Vaccines are a long-term solution to control the pandemic globally in six months to one year. In spite of that, we must still strictly follow preventive measures as we have done,” he said.

Đam urged people to maintain their vigilance and asked schools, healthcare facilities, markets, supermarkets and hotels to self assess their safety level and update it on a COVID-19 safety map at antoancovid.vn .

Venues that fail to update the safety level will have their activities suspended, he said.

The Deputy Prime Minister tasked the health ministry, the ministries of foreign affairs, culture, sports and tourism with mapping out plans and creating conditions for those who have been vaccinated in other countries to enter Việt Nam in the coming time while still ensuring safety. — VNS

The factory’s ground breaking ceremony. — VNA/VNS Photo Đức Hoảnh

TÂY NINH – The Happytex Joint Stock Company began construction on Thursday of a US$15 million textile factory at the Trảng Bàng Industrial Park in the southern province of Tây Ninh.

Covering an area of 25,000sq.m, the factory is designed to produce 2,000 tonnes of woven fabric each year for export. Construction is scheduled for completion in six months.

According to the Management Board of Economic Zones of Tây Ninh, since the beginning of this year local industrial parks and economic zones have attracted four projects, including three foreign-invested projects worth $373.12 million USD.

As of February, the province had attracted 364 investment projects, including 265 FDI and 99 domestically-invested projects with combined capital of over $8.3 billion, creating jobs for nearly 34,000 workers, it said. — VNS

Vietnam is expected to secure 90 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine in 2021 and has already announced a list of target groups eligible to receive the first available shots.

The Southeast Asian country received its first COVID-19 vaccine shipment on February 24 – a batch of 117,600 doses of COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca, a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical company, and the University of Oxford.

The Ministry of Health said last week that the country aims to obtain 90 million COVID-19 vaccine doses by the end of the year, including 30 million through the COVAX scheme co-led by WHO, 30 million through AstraZeneca, and the rest through negotiations with U.S. producers.

Talks were also taking place to secure Russia’s Sputnik V jab, the ministry added.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has requested the Ministry of Health to begin COVID-19 vaccination for prioritized groups by the end of this week.

As soon as the proper logistics are in place, vaccinations will be rolled out in provinces and cities with ongoing pandemic outbreaks, urban areas with large populations, and important transport hubs.

Health workers and employees of steering committees for COVID-19 prevention and control in these localities will be among the first to be immunized.

Vietnam is also developing four COVID-19 vaccines on its own.

Among them, Nanocovax, developed by Ho Chi Minh City-based Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology JSC, entered its second phase of human trials on February 26.

Target groups

According to Resolution No. 21 issued by the central government on February 26, the target groups prioritized to receive COVID-19 vaccinations are:

– Frontline workers (health workers, staff members of all-level steering committees for COVID-19 responses, employees of quarantine facilities, and reporters, among others)

– Diplomats, customs officers, and export-import officers

– Military forces

– Public security forces

– Teachers

– People aged above 65

– Those who work in essential service sectors including aviation, transport, tourism, and utility services

– People with chronic illnesses

– People who must travel abroad for work or study

– Residents in pandemic-hit areas

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