Prioritized citizens include frontline workers in the Covid-19 fight, police and military forces, teachers, diplomats, customs officers, those with chronic conditions and those aged 65 and above, said To Thi Mai Hoa, director of the Bac Ninh Department of Health, local media reported.

Vaccination for the rest of the province’s population, around 1.1 million people, would be considered later, she added.

The VND185 billion, derived from both local and national budgets, would be spent on buying Covid-19 vaccines and covering storage, transportation and equipment costs.

As Vietnam began its mass Covid-19 vaccination campaign earlier this month, Bac Ninh was provided 2,900 Covid-19 vaccine doses by British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca, prioritized for its frontline workers.

The province, home to 15 industrial parks and several plants of tech giant Samsung and LG, recorded five local cases during the latest coronavirus wave that swept through 13 cities and provinces from late January.

It has given over 1,300 medical workers their first Covid-19 vaccine jabs as of Wednesday.

Bac Ninh is not the only province deciding to buy its own Covid-19 vaccines. Others like Khanh Hoa, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Quang Ninh and Dong Nai have also followed suit.

As of Friday, over 27,500 Vietnamese have been vaccinated. The country has ordered 30 million AstraZeneca doses, and received 117,600 so far. By April it will get another five million vaccine doses through global access mechanism Covax, UNICEF and other contracts. It expects to get around 60 million doses in all this year.