More than 80% of people aged 18 years old have received the full dose of Covid-19 vaccine. Photo: NLD

According to the Covid-19 vaccination portal, by the morning of December 18, the country had injected more than 137.5 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.

The number of doses of Covid-19 vaccine administered to people aged 18 and older is more than 128 million doses, more than 58 million doses for the second dose and 1,098,225 for the third dose.

The coverage rate for at least one dose of the vaccine is 96.8% and the rate for fully injecting two doses is 80.8% of the adult population.

Vietnam's Covid-19 vaccine campaign has reached the finish line earlier than expected with the coverage rate of at least one dose of vaccine. The country now stands fourth in the region in the percentage of people who have at least one injection in the total population, just behind Singapore, Cambodia, and Brunei.

Including the number of children aged 12-18 who received the Covid-19 vaccine, the percentage of the population receiving two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine in Vietnam has reached over 60%.

According to the Ministry of Health, the goal of the World Health Organization (WHO) is that 40% of the population of countries receive a full dose of the Covid-19 vaccine by the end of 2021, and 70% of the population of the countries receive the full dose of vaccine by mid-2022.

At a seminar organized by the Ministry of Health on the evening of December 17, Professor Duong Thi Hong, deputy director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, said that the coverage rate of 2 doses of Covid-19 vaccine for humans over 18 years old has reached over 80%.

"We believe that, with the current rate of Covid-19 vaccination, by the end of December 2021, over 95% of Vietnam's population over 18 years old will be vaccinated with two doses of the vaccine. Basically, Vietnam has achieved herd immunity to Covid-19," said Professor Hong.

Seminar organized by the Ministry of Health. Photo: MOH

Hong also said that the results of Covid-19 vaccine coverage for the people were clearly visible, which had limited the number of Covid-19 cases with symptoms requiring hospitalization for treatment. At the same time, it limits severe patients and the number of Covid-19 patients who die.

Additional injections will strengthen immunity

Regarding the plan to inject additional and booster shots (third dose), Professor Hong said that according to the principle of using vaccines in vaccinations, the booster shot is very important, helping to enhance the immunity of the patient after basic vaccinations. This helps the body strengthen its immunity against the SARS-CoV-2 virus and later variants.

Vietnam has received more than 170 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines. Photo: NLD

Hong emphasized that elderly people, people with underlying medical conditions (diabetes, high blood pressure, etc.) are not contraindicated to the Covid-19 vaccine, but should be vaccinated against Covid-19 as soon as possible.

The reason is that these are the subjects who, if infected with Covid-19, will be at high risk of severe illness and death.

These people are prescribed injections at medical facilities, capable of handling severe reactions after injection (if any). Doctors will examine more closely, as well as guide follow-up, before and after injection.

According to Hong, the Covid-19 vaccine has been recommended as safe for most people.

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