As a result, Vietnam does not need to buy more AstraZeneca vaccines. 

Vietnam will receive 38.9 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine from COVAX, so the Ministry of Health has said there is no need to buy more vaccines.

Deputy Minister of Health Truong Quoc Cuong has sent a document about the vaccines to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

According to the Ministry of Health, there are 19.4 million people in nine groups of people priotized for Covid-19 vaccination, including the highest number in HCM City, about 1.56 million people, and the lowest in the northern mountainous province of Bac Kan, with just over 41,000.

Previously, the Government assigned the Ministry of Health to coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to receive 150 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine for people aged 18 and over from various sources like imports and foreign aid.

For AstraZeneca vaccine alone, Vietnam is expected to receive 30 million doses from COVAX Facility, a multilateral distribution framework to ensure equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines led by the Gavi vaccine alliance, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and 30 million doses imported via the private firm VNVC.

After identifying 19.4 million of people priotized for vaccination, on April 14 the Ministry of Health proposed buying an additional 10 million doses of vaccine through VNVC, plus 30 million doses from COVAX, to have 40 million doses for the prioritized people.

However, the Ministry of Health has negotiated with COVAX to have more vaccines and the partner pledged to provide Vietnam with 38.9 million doses of vaccine this year, enough for 19.4 million people, covering 20% of the population as committed.

The Ministry of Health has proposed that sources from the budget not be used to buy more vaccines from VNVC.

The 10 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine that the Ministry of Health plans to buy through VNVC may be distributed by VNVC through socialization mechanism? or sold to provinces that can pay for the vaccine themselves for their entire local population.

In related news, Deputy Minister of Health Truong Quoc Cuong has signed a decision to allocate 20,000 doses of Covid 19 vaccine to nine provinces, including 5,000 doses for Lao Cai province, 2,000 doses for Tien Giang province, 2,000 doses for Ben Tre province, 1,800 doses for Vinh Long province, 1,800 doses for Tra Vinh province, 1,800 doses for Hau Giang province, 2,000 doses for Soc Trang province, 1,800 doses for Bac Lieu province, and 1,800 doses for Ca Mau province.

Previously, the Minister of Health requested provinces to complete vaccinations before May 5.

Thuy Hanh - Nguyen Lien

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