AstraZeneca delivered 1.4 million to the Viet Nam Vaccine JSC (VNVC) - a private firm authorized by the Health Ministry to import COVID-19 vaccine in Viet Nam.

This is part of the VNVC's contract to buy 30 million doses from AstraZeneca that was signed in November last year. Nearly 8.2 million doses have been shipped to Viet Nam, accounting for 27.3 percent of the signed agreement.

To date, Viet Nam has received 24 million vaccine doses from various sources, including 17 million COVID-19 AstraZeneca doses delivered via COVAX Facility.

A total of over 18.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the country so far, with more than 16.3 people partly vaccinated and 2.1 million people fully vaccinated. 

Previously, on August 26, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh tasked the Ministry of Health to encourage localities and organizations to procure vaccines against COVID-19.

The move came after the People's Committee of southern Dong Nai province, which is currently hit hard by the pandemic, sent a document seeking to the PM’s permission to allow the Donacoop Company to import Pfizer vaccines.

General Director of Dong Nai Union of General Agricultural Service Cooperatives (Donacoop) Bui Thanh Truc said that Donacoop finalized an agreement with Pfizer to import about 15 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine and the U.S. company prepared enough vaccine supply for Donacoop. 

Donacoop is waiting for the Ministry of Health's completion of procedures so that the vaccine can be imported to the country within 10 days./.