Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long says a COVID-19 booster jab plan will begin later this year.

The vaccination coverage is increasing considerably. Given current vaccine availability Vietnam is set to begin a third jab plan later this year, Minister Long told the National Assembly on November 8.

According to Long, Vietnam has so far secured approximately 125 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from different sources. More than 90 million doses have been administered, with 84% of people aged 18 and above receiving their first dose and over 40% receiving their second dose.

Vietnam is one of the three countries in the world with the fastest injection rate in terms of daily and weekly doses, said Minister Long, adding that it ranks second only to Indonesia in Southeast Asia.

He said Vietnam is conducting human clinical trials of three COVID-19 vaccines, of which two vaccines are entering the third and last phase. It has also signed contracts on technology transfer with countries around the world to gradually secure vaccines for domestic use in the long run.

He revealed that the Ministry of Health is finalizing a comprehensive COVID-19 prevention and control plan that also focuses on enhancing medical capacity at the grassroots level to deal with future epidemic emergencies.