Hanoi (VNA) - TheDrug Administration of Vietnam under the Ministry of Health has approved the import of the first 204,000doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine of the UK for emergencyuse.
This is the first batch of Vietnam’sorder of 30 million doses of the vaccine bought directly from the manufacturer(with phased delivery throughout 2021), in addition to 4.88 million dosesthat the country is receiving under the WHO-led COVAX initiative aimed atequitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, especially for poor and developingcountries.
The batch isexpected to be delivered by AstraZeneca Vietnam on February 28.
The company isresponsible for the origin, quality of the imported vaccine and the vaccine is used for the right purposes and in a safe and effective manner, theadministration’s document approving the import noted.
Previously,Vietnamese health authorities have given emergency use approval for theCOVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca, the first COVID-19 vaccine to obtain suchauthorisation in the country.
Related agenciesare still in talks with the company for larger supply to Vietnam to ensureinoculation for its near 100 million population.
Vietnam optedfor the Oxford/Zeneca vaccine mostly because it could be stored at normalfridge temperatures of 2-8 degrees Celsius, instead of stringent super coldstorage conditions like its Moderna and Pfizer counterparts, according to LeVan Truyen, Chairman of the Advisory Council for the Granting of Drug RegistrationNumbers.
The company hasalso cooperated with several countries in Europe and Asia to produce thevaccines, Truyen said.
Vietnam has onelocally-made COVID-19 vaccine, Nanocovax, in the second phase human trials, withanother expected to start at the end of February.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phucat a recent cabinet meeting has said that importing COVID-19 vaccines must beconsidered “the highest priority of the Government,” as the country is battlingits biggest wave of community infections, that has recorded over 700 casessince January 27./.