Tran Thi Nhi Ha, director of the Hanoi Department of Health, at a Monday meeting with the Hanoi Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control said the capital has vaccinated over 8,000 citizens so far, exceeding initial expectations.

"Within the second vaccination round, for which Hanoi has been allocated 53,000 vaccine doses, the capital would prioritize medical workers and members of the Covid-19 monitoring team. Within this year, the city plans to vaccinate 350,000 people. By 2022, there should be more vaccine sources, including Vietnam’s own cheaper version, so more groups could be inoculated too," she said, as cited by Tuoi Tre.

Hoang Duc Hanh, deputy department director, said the capital needs to stay vigilant as the coronavirus is still rampant in certain Southeast Asian countries, especially Vietnam’s neighbor Cambodia.

"The two countries share a border, so the risk of illegal entrants, and with them coronavirus outbreaks, are high," he stressed.

Chu Xuan Dung, deputy chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee, echoed Hanh's sentiments, adding Covid-19 prevention measures also need to be ramped up.

Hanoi, home to more than eight million people, is expected to conduct its second vaccination round from Thursday until the end of April, with second shots administered until the end of May.

Vietnam has inoculated around 60,000 citizens against Covid-19 with a vaccine produced by British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca, provided either through contracts or global vaccine access mechanism Covax. Most of the vaccinated are frontline workers in the Covid-19 fight.