(VOVWORLD) - The Covax facility will provide Vietnam with almost 9 million additional doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, allowing the nation to vaccinate all frontline workers.
 A nurse gets the AstraZeneca vaccine from a vial at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi, March 2021. (Photo: VnExpress) |
The Global Covid-19 Vaccine Facility (Covax) will supply Vietnam with 38.9 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine instead of the 30 million pledged earlier, the Ministry of Health said in a report sent Monday to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.
Covax is a global mechanism in the development, manufacturing, and procurement of Covid-19 vaccine candidates, facilitating and supporting member countries to access vaccines as they become available.
Under the plan that Vietnam has already unveiled and is implementing, besides frontline medical workers, medical staff, the military and the police, the priority list for Covid-19 vaccination include teachers, diplomatic personnel, customs and immigration officers, those working in essential services like transport, people aged 65 and above, the poor, and those with chronic diseases.
People seeking to study or work abroad or living in pandemic-hit areas are also in the list.
The ministry said in the report that the nation now has 19.4 million people in priority groups, with HCMC accounting for the most at 1.56 million.
Aside from the vaccine provided by Covax, Vietnam has secured a deal to have Vietnam Vaccine JSC (VNVC) buy 30 million doses from British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca.