Medical workers at Hanoi’s Thanh Nhan hospital receive Covid-19 vaccine

On the morning of March 9, Thanh Nhan was the first hospital in Hanoi to launch the Covid-19 vaccination program. 30 medical staff who regularly have direct contact with infection were given vaccine.

Malie Nguyen

Dieuhuong270198@gmail.com March 10, 2021 | 08:44

	Vietnam to receive over 5.6 million COVID-19 vaccine doses soon
	Ho Chi Minh city's proposal of additional 5 million Covid-19 vaccine doses for citizens
	Hanoi starts vaccinating over 7,000 first-responders

Medical workers at Hanoi’s Thanh Nhan hospital receive Covid-19 vaccine

Photo: Tien Phong

Hanoi’s inoculation program is expected to last from March 9 to March 18 in 30 districts. Thanh Nhan Hospital was the first unit to inject Covid-19 vaccine for medical workers. The remaining hospitals will inject from March 12 to March 15, Tien Phong reported.

The vaccination has been urgently implemented but it must ensure safety and efficiency.

Each district or town has at least 2 vaccination sites which are located at clinics, medical stations or hospitals, depending on the number of vaccine recipients.

Thanh Nhan Hospital has prepared pre-vaccination counseling rooms, vaccination rooms, post-vaccination monitoring rooms, emergency rooms, etc with fully essential equipment.

Photo: Tien Phong

At 7:45 am, March 9, the first medical staff were administered Covid-19 vaccine. A doctor said that he felt very secure to be given vaccine, and expressed his belief that along with residents’ awareness in epidemic prevention and control, vaccine would be an effective “weapon” to battle the pandemic.

Doctor Tran Van Cam, working at the Internal Emergency Department at Thanh Nhan Hospital said "I volunteered to register for the injection when learning about the pilot vaccination plan. I fully believe in the effectiveness of the vaccine licensed by the Ministry of Health.

He added that at first, he felt a little bit worried, but, he then was happy to get vaccine. He also exchanged about the vaccination with his family and received support from them.

Photo: Tien Phong

British-Swedish firm’s AstraZeneca vaccine has been used for the first phase of the vaccination campaign in Vietnam. AstraZeneca vaccine is one of three vaccines to be approved for use in emergency cases by the World Health Organization (WHO). It has been utilized by more than 50 countries and territories. The first batch of 117.600 AstraZeneca vaccine arrived in Vietnam on February 24 and was quickly distributed to localities across the country as soon as evaluating its quality completed.

Photo: Tien Phong

The vaccine is stored in cold storages at 2-8 degrees C and is closely monitored to ensure the best quality from the process of reception, transportation to the injection.

Photo: Tien Phong

According to a leader of Hanoi People's Committee, the city would receive around 8000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine in the first phase. Receiving and using vaccine would be deployed for prioritized groups in specific phases, effectively ensuring epidemic prevention and control.

Photo: Tien Phong

Medical staff at Thanh Nhan hospital wait for their turn to get vaccine.

Photo: Tien Phong

Leaders of Hanoi People's Committee inspect the vaccination at Thanh Nhan Hospital.

Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Health.

A vaccine recipient has his health checked before receiving vaccine.

Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Health.

From the early morning of March 9, boxes of COVID-19 vaccines were transported from VNVC’s cold storages to Thanh Nhan Hospital. Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Health.

Previously, on March 8, in the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi, Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City and northern Hai Duong province, 377 people including medical workers treating Covid-19 patients, contact tracers, sample takers, epidemiology investigators, members of community COVID-19 groups, etc were vaccinated.

No vaccine recipient has shown any adverse reactions so far, according to the Health Ministry.

More than four million doses of Covax-funded AstraZeneca vaccine and 1.48 million other doses Vietnam has ordered will arrive this month and next, according to Vnexpress.

According to the national Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI), Vietnam will receive 4.177 million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine via the Covax program with support from the UNICEF.

The Covax, or the Global Covid-19 Vaccine Facility, is a global mechanism for the development, manufacture and procurement of Covid-19 vaccine candidates, facilitating and supporting member countries to access vaccines as they become available.

Under this, 1.373 million doses are slated to arrive on March 25 and the rest in April. The vaccine is produced by British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca in collaboration with Oxford University.

Covax has pledged to provide Vietnam with 4.9 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the first half and around 33 million doses in the second half of this year.

Also within April, 1.48 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine that Vietnam had ordered to buy via the Vietnam Vaccine JSC will also be delivered.

In the latest outbreak of community transmission that broke out on January 28, Vietnam has registered 894 cases, including one confirmed Tuesday evening in epicenter Hai Duong, which alone has accounted for as many as 710 cases.

The latest outbreak has been basically been under control as 10 out of 13 affected localities, including HCMC and Hanoi, have not recorded any new infections in 24 days.

Vietnam is expected to acquire 150 million Covid-19 vaccine doses from foreign and domestic sources by 2022.

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.

Four indigenously developed Covid-19 vaccines are in the works. Human trials for Nanocovax, produced by Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology JSC, began last December; and for Covivac, produced by the health ministry’s Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals, are expected to begin soon.

Photos: First shots of Covid-19 vaccine given to frontline medical workers today

Frontline medical workers in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Hai Duong got the first shots of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine on Monday morning.

Ministry of Health to provide great effort to ensure Covid-19 vaccination's safety

Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long, comfirmed the authority would put on maximum efforts to ensure absolute safety for all citizens, as Vietnam will mobilise ...