522 Vietnamese vaccinated against COVID-19

There were a few cases of post-injection reactions, but most of them are common ones that have been projected such as muscle aches, fatigue, fever, headache, chills and pain at the injection site, and nausea.

There were five cases that were monitored and handled at the hospitals, two of which returned to normal right after timely treatment, while three suffered diarrhoea, allergies and stuck blood pressure. The health of all the above cases is now stable.

Vietnam kick-started its largest vaccination campaign ever on March 8 by first giving the AstraZeneca vaccine to 377 medical workers in four venues in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and the northern province of Hai Duong.

Those vaccinated are medical staff directly treating COVID-19 patients and performing tasks in taking samples, testing and tracing, as well as members of community-based anti-COVID-19 groups.

Among the first to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine, 107 are from National Hospital of Tropical Diseases Base 2 in Hanoi’s outskirt district of Dong Anh, 104 are from the Hospital for Tropical Diseases of Ho Chi Minh City, and 206 others were also vaccinated at two injection sites in Hai Duong Province, namely Hai Duong City Medical Centre and Kim Thanh District Medical Centre.

Two new facilities deploying inoculation on March 9, Hanoi-based Thanh Nhan Hospital, and Gia Lai Province’s Field Hospital, injected 36 and 69 medical workers, respectively.

The National Expanded Programme on Immunisation evaluated that the vaccination in the past two days has been safe and post-injection reactions are within the permitted rates. Since the COVID-19 vaccine is a new one, people being vaccinated must strictly follow the instructions of the health authorities.

Director of the Hanoi Department of Health Tran Thi Nhi Ha said that, as this is the first vaccination drive against COVID-19, the Hanoi health sector puts the safety of the injected people first, with all preparations and processes during injection in Thanh Nhan Hospital having been implemented well. During the first phase (from March 9 to 18), Hanoi plans to inject 8,000 doses distributed by the Ministry of Health to priority subjects in 30 districts and towns.

On March 9 and 10, at the Field Hospital in Gia Lai Province, there will be 61 medical staff of the facility and 39 others from the Gia Lai Province General Hospital vaccinated against COVID-19. The field hospital has arranged a separate room for vaccination, along with necessary equipment and a crew for timely emergency treatment of post-injection reactions (if any). Gia Lai Province has been allocated 1,900 doses, of which 100 to the field hospital and the remaining will be transferred to Gia Lai Province Centre for Disease Control for distribution to localities in the province to vaccinate priority subjects as soon as possible.

According to the regulations of the Ministry of Health, vaccination sites must meet strict standards for storage and preservation of vaccines, arrange functional areas equipped with shock-proof boxes, and comply with COVID-19 prevention and control regulations.

All vaccinated people are screened and disseminated on how to monitor their health and post-vaccination reactions. When detecting abnormal symptoms, they must contact medical facilities for timely treatment.

According to the National Expanded Programme on Immunisation, Vietnam will receive 5.657 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine in March and April. Specifically, 4,177 doses will be supported by COVAX Facility through the UNICEF (with 1,373,800 doses expected on March 25 and 2,803,200 doses in April). In April, Vietnam will receive 1.48 million doses purchased by the Ministry of Health. All the COVID-19 vaccines to be received in these two batches are from AstraZeneca.