A health worker prepares to administer a shot of COVID-19 vaccine (Photo: VNA)

At a videoconference on Thursday with Ho Chi Minh City under the chair of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, the Minister noted these doses will be prioritised for HCM City and nearby provinces currently hit by the fourth wave of infections, frontline forces, industrial production personnel, as well as those above 65 years of age or with underlying health conditions.

The vaccination will be carried out at a large number of sites with different time slots to prevent mass gatherings, he said, adding that mobile vaccination vehicles will also be deployed to some residential areas.

Long added that the fight against COVID-19 in HCM City is not only for the sake of this southern metropolis but also key to the success of nationwide anti-pandemic efforts, especially in nearby provinces like Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and Long An.

The Ministry of Health will set up 24 support teams and send about 10,000 health workers to help the city collect samples, conduct tests, and give treatment.

So far, Vietnam has received nearly 5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, including 2.5 million doses of the AztraZeneca vaccine provided via the COVAX Facility, 1.4 million doses by the Japanese Government (another 600,000 doses expected to arrive this week), 500,000 doses by the Chinese Government, over 400,000 doses by the Vietnam Vaccine JSC (VNVC), and over 97,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine.

The country is set to receive 2 million Moderna vaccine doses supplied by the US Government via COVAX this week.

By the end of July 7, the health sector has administered 3,960,956 COVID-19 vaccine doses, with 241,913 people getting the full two shots.