Vietnam is expected to receive 3 million doses of Moderna vaccine donated by the US government through COVAX facility this week. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam is expected to receive 3 million doses of Modernavaccine donated by the US government through COVAX facility this week, said Prof. Dr. Dang Duc Anh, Director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology on July 19.
Inaddition, the country will get 100,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from the Romanian government in the near future, he said, adding that Vietnam isalso asking the Chinese Government for non-refundable aid of 5 million dosesof Sinopharm vaccine.
Also onJuly 19, the Ministry of Health (MoH) said that Pfizer had agreed to increasethe volume of COVID-19 vaccines supplied to Vietnam in the third quarter from 3million to 3.5 million doses and committed an additional 20 milliondoses this year. This brings the total number of Pfizer vaccine doses expected to be sold to Vietnam to 51 million doses, up 20 million dosescompared to the plan.
Thus, inaddition to 105 million doses of vaccines committed under signed contracts, 70 milliondoses are under negotiation and likely to be signed. Vietnam is expected tohave a total of 175 million doses this year and early next year.
To date,Vietnam has received more than 10.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines,including 7.1 million doses of AstraZeneca, 2 million doses of Modernaand 194,200 doses of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
Vietnamhas so far administered 4,283,906 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with 306,475 people receiving full two shots.
Regardingthe information that Vietnam will need 10 more years to achieve the goal ofvaccinating 75 percent of the population, Anh said the informationwas completely inaccurate and groundless.
"Ifwe see the progress of vaccination in Vietnam, especially in pandemic-hit areas such as Ho Chi Minh City and southern provinces, the vaccinationrate is very high in a short time," he said.
Anh alsosaid that more than 26 million doses of vaccines will arrive in Vietnam in thethird quarter and another 65.5 million doses in the fourth quarter. Itmeans that the country will get more than 91.5 million doses for the rest ofthis year, including 20 million doses of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine exclusively for children aged between 12 and 18.
Accordingto the MoH, Vietnam has reached an agreement on transfer of vaccine technologyfrom the US and Russia as well as an agreement to support domestic units toaccelerate clinical trials and ensure the compliance with the requiredprocedures./.
