Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long receives a Covid-19 vaccine
shot by AstraZeneca at Hanoi's Bach Mai Hospital, May 6, 2021.
Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh. 

Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long got a shot of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at Hanoi's Bach Mai Hospital Thursday morning. 

Some health ministry workers were also vaccinated, and all are being monitored. Everyone is doing well so far.

Vietnam is expected to receive 1.6 million doses through global vaccine access mechanism Covax on May 10, Long said.

His ministry is considering adding groups like students and workers seeking to go abroad to work to the existing list of prioritized groups like frontline medical workers.

The vaccination campaign using the AstraZeneca shot has been going at a good rate, with 74 percent of the doses being given and the rest to be given "within the next few days," he said.

As of Thursday over 675,000 people in 48 cities and provinces have been vaccinated. Vietnam has received about a million doses so far, either through commercial contracts or Covax.

The country aims to secure 150 million doses to cover 70 percent of its population by next year.

It is experiencing its fourth wave which has seen 64 cases of community transmission since last week in Hanoi, Da Nang and HCMC and the provinces of Ha Nam, Vinh Phuc, Hung Yen, Quang Nam, Dong Nai, Hai Duong, and Yen Bai.