At the Vietnam Vaccine Joint Stock Company (VNVC) 's warehouse in Dong Da district, Hanoi, around 3:00 a.m. of March 8, two specialized cars began carrying vaccines to Kim Thanh District Medical Center and Hospital Heat Hospital. zone of Hai Duong province. Travel time is about 3-4 hours for a distance of 90-120 km, to each location.

At 6 am, another vehicle will depart from the vaccine depot to the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases 2, Dong Anh district, Hanoi.

At the same time in Ho Chi Minh City, a truck carrying vaccine also left the warehouse on the way to Hospital for Tropical Diseases of Ho Chi Minh City.

These are the first four locations where Covid-19 vaccination is deployed nationwide, on the morning of March 8. The first group to receive injections are those who directly treat Covid-19 patients, forces to trace epidemiology, test ...

AstraZeneca vaccine batches injected for the first phase for the provinces of Hai Duong, Hanoi, were transported by plane to Hanoi on the night of March 6. Photo: Thu Anh.

The representative of VNVC affirmed that all vaccines will be present at the 4 injection sites as required by the Ministry of Health, before the vaccination program begins. In addition, VNVC also supports injection sites for 12 people, including doctors, nurses and caregivers.

Last night, the vaccine was safely transferred from VNVC's cold storage in Ho Chi Minh City, by air to Hanoi. The number of vaccines was not specifically disclosed.

At the Hospital for Tropical Diseases of Ho Chi Minh City, 900 medical staff of the hospital will be vaccinated with Covid-19 AstraZeneca vaccine, deployed within a week. The first injection on the morning of March 8 was witnessed by representatives of the Ministry of Health.

At the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases 2, 100 nurses who directly treat, care for or are at risk of nCoV infection will be injected first, starting from 8:00 am. Vaccination and post-vaccination follow-up took place at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The hospital has arranged 3 injection tables with all necessary facilities and techniques.

All vaccinated people will have to be screened before being vaccinated. People with signs of cough, fever, and shortness of breath will not be vaccinated with Covid-19 vaccine. After the injection, they were monitored at the hospital for 30 minutes and monitored at home for the next 24 hours. It is expected that after 12 weeks, they will get a second vaccine. Immunization history will be tracked on electronic health record.

A box of Covid-19 AstraZeneca vaccine contains 10 doses of 0.5 ml injections, with a shelf life of 6 months. Photo: Thu Anh.

Vietnam has 117,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine. The Ministry of Health decided to distribute the vaccine based on the quantity recommendations from the health departments and hospitals treating Covid-19. Specifically, in the first phase, the vaccine was distributed to 35 places , including 14 Centers for Disease Control and 21 Covid-19 treatment facilities, for vaccination from March 8.

Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long on 6/3 said, the amount of vaccines is low, can not allocate 63 localities, but can only partially coordinate for 13 provinces and cities that are epidemic. The ministry is still actively negotiating with foreign partners to send vaccines to Vietnam soon. Hopefully in March there may be an additional 1.3 million doses of vaccine in the Covax Facility program. Then, in April and May, the supply of vaccines continued to increase. Due to the low number of vaccines, priority should be given to 11 groups of subjects and groups directly involved in epidemic prevention.

This Covid-19 National Expanded Vaccination project is considered by the Minister to be the largest in history, with about 100 million doses. The project by the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology is in charge of receiving and transporting vaccines to immunization facilities according to the list of the Institute also instructs localities, the preservation, distribution and coordination with the facilities. Other vaccinations for the use of Covid-19 vaccine.

Source: https://vnexpress.net/