Russia has agreed to provide 20 million doses of Sputnik V vaccine in 2021, according to Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long. 

Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long (middle) meets with leaders
of the Russian Direct Investment Fund

The agreement was reached at a meeting between Nguyen and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) on Wednesday afternoon.

The ministry approved Russia's Sputnik V vaccine for emergency use in Viet Nam late March. Sputnik V, developed by Russian Gamaleya Institute, has an efficacy rate of 91.6% in preventing COVID-19, according to an interim analysis of the Phase 3 clinical trials published in the medical journal The Lancet in early February.

The Vietnamese Government set a goal to acquire 150 million COVID-19 vaccine doses this year to cover 70 percent of the country’s population. 

The goal is “feasible”, Minister Nguyen last Monday.

So far, Viet Nam has received 2.9 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses, including nearly 2.5 million doses shipped via the COVAX Facility./.