Health minister and deputies receive AstraZeneca COVID-19 shots

HÀ NỘI — Minister of Health Nguyễn Thanh Long and his deputies have received their AstraZeneca COVID- 一 九 vaccine Thursday morning at Bạch Mai Hospital in Hà Nội.

Long,  五 四, along with three of his deputies – Trần Văn Thuấn,  五 一, Trương Quốc Cường,  六0, and Đỗ Xuân Tuyên,  五 五 – remained at the hospital after the inoculations for follow-up health monitoring.

All of them said they felt fine after receiving the injections.

The health minister said the global vaccine sharing scheme COVAX is expected to deliver another  一. 六 million doses of AstraZeneca to Việt Nam on May  一0, as part of the co妹妹itment to supply some  三 九 million doses within  二0 二 一 and early  二0 二 二 to inoculate the prioritised groups as identified by the Government.

When the supplies are more available, eligible people could include students and workers sent overseas.

The health chief said that the  七 四 per cent of the nearly one million doses of AstraZeneca – more than  八00,000 from COVAX brought to Việt Nam on April  一 and more than  一 一 七,000 purchased from the manufacturer that arrived late February – have been administered, and the doses could be finished within a few days.

According to a Thursday morning eport from the National Expanded Progra妹妹e on I妹妹unisation, more than  九0,000 people were vaccinated on Wednesday.

In total,  六 七 五, 九 五 六 people in  四 八 cities and provinces of Việt Nam – primarily frontline workers and medical staff – have been inoculated.

Some  一 六 per cent of the  六00,000 vaccinated people reported typical symptoms post-injection which usually disappear within  二 四 hours, Minister Long said, adding that this ratio is lower than in other countries, while other more severe reactions have been dealt with.

He said: “We always stressed the need to ensure safe vaccination. Therefore, the Ministry of Health has established a Steering Co妹妹ittee for safe i妹妹unisation, which brings together leading experts and professors in all relevant fields to be ready to assist localities in handling any situation arising during the vaccination drive.”

The fourth deputy health minister Nguyễn Trường Sơn, who just returned from the trip bringing Vietnamese medical supplies aid and experts to help Laos battle their wave of infections, is currently under quarantine after coming into contacts with a doctor at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases found positive to the virus.

His latest COVID- 一 九 test on Wednesday was negative. — VNS