First COVID-19 vaccine batch under COVAX arrives in Vietnam

The batch contains 811,200 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen, UNICEF Representative in Vietnam Rana Flowers and WHO Representative in Vietnam Kidong Park were present at the airport to receive the vaccine.

The vaccine doses were immediately transferred to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) for storage, awaiting the health ministry’s instructions on the allocation of the vaccine across 63 cities and provinces during this month.

Flowers said problems in production capability have led to delayed delivery to all COVAX-participating countries, not just Vietnam.

COVAX has pledged to give Vietnam over 4.17 million vaccine doses by the end of May.

Vietnam had been promised 30 million doses of the vaccine in total under COVAX, a global mechanism for developing, manufacturing and procuring COVID-19 vaccines that help member countries access them as they become available.

The remaining batches are scheduled to arrive in the country by year-end or in early 2022.

All of the doses will be supplied free of charge by COVAX through UNICEF.