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Vietnam to provide free Covid-19 vaccinations for people
  • | dtinews.vn, VNS | February 23, 2021 09:05 PM
Vietnam intends to offer free Covid-19 vaccinations for local people, said the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control.

The National Steering Committee For Covid-19 Prevention and Control held a meeting on Tuesday morning on the national plan on Covid-19 vaccination. The event was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam.

According to the board, Vietnam is trying to have Covid-19 vaccines which will be given to prioritised groups first. The country will give the Covid-19 vaccine injections to local people like other kinds of vaccines in the National Expanded Programme on Immunisation. 

The country will also offer the Covid-19 vaccine service for people who want it.

Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen said that Vietnam would receive 4.8 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine through the WHO-led Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) initiative in the coming time. Among those, 25-35% will be delivered in the first quarter of 2021 and 65-75% will be delivered in the second quarter.

Vietnam News Agency reported that in the first quarter, the health ministry expects to inoculate 95% of 500,000 frontline medical workers and 116,000 anti-pandemic staff. 1.2 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine are to be used (each will be given two shots as per recommendations).

In the second quarter, the health ministry aims to inoculate 95% of 9,200 customs officers, 4,080 diplomats, 1,027,000 military officers, 304,000 public security officers, and 550,000 teachers that are considered in high risks categories. All in all, 3.6 million doses are to be used in this period for 1.8 million people.

In the third and fourth quarter, if the promise of COVAX Facility to provide enough doses to cover 20% of each eligible recipient country’s population is fulfilled, Vietnam will inoculate nearly 16.5 million with 33 million doses. 95% of 750,000 teachers, 7,600,000 elders above 65 years old, 1,930,000 essential service workers, and 7,000,000 adults with chronic health issues are to be given the jabs.

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