As of October 16, the nation administered more than 61 million doses, with 60.2 percent of people aged 18 and older receiving the first doses and 24.7 percent of eligible people fully vaccinated.

The country planned to vaccinate adolescents aged between 12 and 17 against COVID-19 from late October, according to Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan.

As vaccines is the key to help Viet Nam adapt safely and flexibly to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government encourages people to take vaccine as soon as it is available to them.

Speaking at a meeting with leaders of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Science and Technology, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said Viet Nam has mastered technologies to produce biological products for testing and anti-pandemic equipment.

At the same time, vaccine research and production have made initial positive steps with clinical trials since the middle of this year, said Vu./.