As many as 1,113,400 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on August 13, according to the Vietnam Vaccine Company (VNVC). |
This is the eighth shipment from the VNVC’s order of 30 million doses with AstraZeneca, the entirety of which would be handed over to the Ministry of Health at a not-for-profit price. VNVC earlier stated that starting from July, each week, AstraZeneca would ship about 1 million doses of vaccine to Vietnam, and the commitment has been largely kept. To date, 5.5 million doses, or nearly 20% of the deal, have been delivered, nearly six months after the first batch reached Vietnam in late February. VNVC said it was also in talks with other vaccine manufacturers for potential deals. With the latest batch, Vietnam currently has received some 19 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine in total, mostly AstraZeneca (11.5 million), Moderna (5 million), and Sinopharm’s Vero Cell (1.5 million). The Ministry of Health has warned that in the third quarter, deliveries would be few and far between, and most of the vaccines from international commitments and purchase deals would arrive in droves in the final quarter of the year. Over 13 million doses have been administered in Vietnam, with more than 1.1 million people being fully vaccinated. Source: Nhan Dan Online |