Vietnam has reached a deal with the United Kingdom’s AstraZeneca to purchase 30 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine for local use, said Deputy Minister of Health Truong Quoc Cuong. 

Thirty million doses of AstraZeneca will be imported for local use this year.

Cuong made the statement at a press briefing in Hanoi on January 4, saying each person will get two doses, meaning 15 million people will get AstraZeneca shots against COVID-19.

“We have penned a document with AstraZeneca to ensure 30 million doses of its vaccine will be supplied to Vietnam from the first to the fourth quarters this year,” said Cuong.  

According to the health official, Vietnam is also negotiating deals at the same time with partners from the United States, Russia and China to purchase their COVID-19 vaccines. Accordingly, it has planned to buy Pfizer of the US and Sputnik V of Russia.

“The vaccines have various efficacy rates, ranging from 60% to 94%, but the protection rate is approximately 80-90%”, added Cuong.

The health official also stated that his ministry is working hard to ensure Vietnamese people will soon access the COVID-19 vaccines.

Vietnam has four units that are researching and producing local vaccines. They are the Institute of Vaccines and Biological Medical (IVAC), the Company for Vaccine and Biological Production No1 (VABIOTECH), the Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology JSC (NANOGEN), and the Centre for Immunization Vaccines (POLYVAC).

Nano Covax, the first vaccine produced by NANOGEN, has also been tested on volunteers as part of the human clinical testing campaign which originally began on December 17, 2020. All the volunteers are in stable health condition following injections.

IVAC is planning its human clinical trials of its vaccine, Covivac, on January 20-21, 2021.