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	PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc requests COVID-19 vaccine supply to be ready in first quarter

UNDP, UNICEF and WHO offer vaccine supplies to Vietnam at a working session with Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam in Hanoi on February 5. Photo: VGP

The Chief Representatives of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Children Fund (UNICEF), and the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Vietnam made the statement at a working session with Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam in Hanoi on February 5, VOV reported.

They informed Dam of a COVID-19 vaccine delivery under the WHO-initiated COVAX programme, and said the UN Secretary General and the WHO Director General Vietnam are keen to supply COVID-19 vaccines to poor, developing countries and Vietnam is among the priority recipients.

COVAX is co-led by Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and WHO. Its aim is to accelerate the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines, and to guarantee fair and equitable access for every country in the world.

They said COVAX will provide free of charge a certain quantity of vaccines for poor countries, while the host government will fund the vaccination.

Deputy PM Dam thanked the international organisations for support and said the vaccines will be effectively used in Vietnam.

The chief representatives of international organisations spoke highly Vietnam’s successful control of the COVID-19 pandemic last year as well as its efforts to combat the fresh outbreak at present.

Currently, the chief representatives of the UNDP, UNICEF and WHO are working closely with the Ministry of Health to work out an injection plan as required by COVAX. First doses of WHO-initiated vaccine programme are expected to reach Vietnam in the first quarter of 2021 if conditions allow.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc requests COVID-19 vaccine supply to be ready in first quarter

Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has requested that relevant agencies take a range of urgent and drastic measures aimed at ensuring the supply of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines for citizens during the first quarter of the year.

Vials with AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine are seen at the vaccination center in the Newcastle Eagles Community Arena, Britain, January 30, 2021. Photo by Reuters/Lee Smith.

The health ministry said it has approved Covid-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca PLC for domestic inoculation.

Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said the vaccine has been approved under emergent circumstances to help fight Covid-19. AstraZeneca has pledged to provide Vietnam with around 30 million doses this year, with the first coming in the first quarter, according to the VNexpress.

Besides the deal with AstraZeneca, Vietnam is also stepping up negotiations with the U.S.’s Pfizer and Moderna, along with other vaccine manufacturers in Russia and China.

It is also developing its own Covid-19 vaccines, with four currently in the works. Human trials for Nanocovax, produced by Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology JSC, began last December, while Covivac, produced by the health ministry’s Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals, is expected to begin human trials after the Lunar New Year holiday in mid-February.

A man is injected with Covid-19 vaccine Nanocovax in Hanoi as part of human trials on December 17, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Huy Manh.

Vietnam Friday evening confirmed 19 more Covid-19 community transmissions in Hanoi and four northern provinces.

Hanoi and Ha Giang recorded one case each, Hai Duong had 12, Dien Bien three, and Quang Ninh two.

All the new patients, numbered 1958 to 1976, are related to confirmed infectees in Hai Duong Province, the country's biggest Covid-19 hotspot.

Ha Giang and Dien Bien saw community transmission for the first time in the country's latest outbreak.

In just eight days (January 28 to February 5), the Health Ministry has confirmed 394 community transmissions in 12 localities - Hai Duong (290), Quang Ninh (46), Hanoi (23), Gia Lai (18), Binh Duong (five), Dien Bien and Bac Ninh Province (three each), Hoa Binh (two), Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, Bac Giang and Ha Giang (one each).

Vietnam's Covid-19 tally of 1,976 cases includes 1,465 recoveries and 35 deaths. The remaining patients are in stable condition, with 10 having tested negative once, three for the second time and two for the third time.

More than 80,000 people are in quarantine at the moment.

The global Covid-19 tally stands at nearly 105 million infections and more than 2.27 million deaths.

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