Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The Health Ministry on June 12 granted conditional approval of Comirnaty vaccine manufactured by Pfizer Manufacturing Belgium NV and Germany’s BioNTech Manufacturing GmbH for domestic emergency use in the fight against COVID-19.
This is the fourth vaccine to receive such authorisation, following Oxford/AstraZeneca, Sputnik V, and Sinopharm’s Vero Cell.
According to the approval decision, the vaccine comes in doses of 0.3ml of mRNA molecules protected by lipid nanoparticles.
The packaging is described as trays of 195 vials, with each vial holding six doses of vaccine.
The ministry asked the Drug Administration of Vietnam to license the import of Comirnaty vaccine as well as oversee its quality in line with the regulations.
The Administration of Science Technology and Training was directed to choose qualified units to assess the safety and efficiency of Comirnaty vaccine based on feedback from the ministry’s advisory board on the use of vaccines and medical biologicals during the use.
The General Department of Preventive Medicine was responsible for Cormirnaty vaccination while the National Institute for Vaccines and Biologicals must test and grant a certificate for the vaccine before it is put into use.
Previously, the health ministry said it had negotiated for a deal of 31 million doses of Pfizer and the first shipment could likely arrive between now and July.
Last week, during a meeting with UNICEF Representative in Vietnam Rana Flowers, Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long has also expressed his request for COVAX Facility – the global vaccine sharing initiative – to supply Pfizer vaccine to be used for Vietnamese children aged 12-18.
As of 4pm on June 12, 1,454,221 doses of vaccines – mostly AstraZeneca – have been administered in Vietnam since the inoculation drive started in March 8, 2021. 54,385 people have received the full two doses./.
