Russia gifts Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine to Vietnam
(VOVWORLD) - Russia gave Vietnam 1,000 doses of its COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V as a gift, according to an announcement from the Health Ministry.
 (Photo: AFP/VNA) |
The donation was handed over on Tuesday during Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev’s two-day visit to Vietnam for bilateral security consultations.
More than 50 countries have approved the emergency use of Sputnik V, the first approved COVID-19 vaccine in the world.
The vaccine is administered in two shots three weeks apart, has to be stored at minus 18 degrees Celsius or below and has a six-month shelf life. According to The Lancet medical journal, the vaccine is 91.6 percent effective.
Mass vaccination in Vietnam began on March 8, and nearly 16,000 medical staff and other frontline workers have received their first shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine developed by the British-Swedish company in collaboration with Oxford University.
Last month, Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said Sputnik V’s manufacturer could supply some 60 million doses to Vietnam.