Vietnam records nearly 1,000 COVID-19 vaccinated first responders

	5 Vietnamese recipients develop complications post AstraZeneca vaccine injection
	Vietnam to receive over 5.6 million COVID-19 vaccine doses soon
	India to seek funds in "Quad" alliance, countering China's vaccine diplomacy

Vietnamese medical staff receiving the vaccine (Photo: VNE)

Reports of the National Expanded Vaccination Program (TCMR) say 433 more recipients are injected on March 3 – the third day of COVID-19 inoculation. No serious reactions reported post-vaccination in the day. According to TCMR, vaccination safety has always been the first priority throughout the nationwide campaign. All localities have implemented the program in a serious manner.

All are frontline workers in the COVID-19 pandemic, including those who directly treat and take care of COVID-19 patients, medical staff sampling and testing suspected patients, members of contact tracing, and pandemic control force.

“There’s a relatively high proportion of injected people experience side effects, such as pain at the injection site, low fever, fatigue”, Dr. Vu Minh Dien, deputy director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told VNE. “These mild reactions are, however, all common after vaccination. So far, there has been no anaphylaxis reported”.

Meanwhile, Khong Minh Tuan, deputy director of the Hanoi Center for Disease Control, estimated that the post-injection response rate was only about 3-5%. The rate was based on the reports of Hanoi’s Thanh Nhan hospital.

Two nurses in Hai Duong who developed high fever after the injection are now in stable condition after prompt medical care. Hai Duong is the current biggest COVID-19 epicenter in the country. The northern province has injected the first 200 doses of the 32,000-dose batch on March 3 and is receiving another 3,000 doses on March 10. Provincial authorities are devising plan to effectively use and store the vaccine.

(Photo: VNE)

Vietnam has ordered 30 million doses from AstraZeneca, and the first batch of 117,600 doses arrived in HCMC last week and will be given to people working on the front lines like medical workers, contact tracers, and officials on COVID-19 prevention and control committees, Vnexpress reported.

The vaccination campaign began on Monday and hundreds of medical staff in Hanoi, HCMC, and Hai Duong and Gia Lai provinces have received the first dose of the vaccine developed by the British-Swedish company in collaboration with Oxford University, according to VNE.

Vietnam has ordered 30 million doses, and 117,600 arrived late last month. It is also negotiating with the U.S.’s Pfizer and Moderna and other vaccine manufacturers in Russia and China.

Meanwhile, the country is also having four potential indigenous vaccine candidates on hand, with IVAC ‘s Covivac and Nonogen’s Nanocovax are on the first and second phase of human trials, respectively. The other two have proved effective and safe on animal testing.

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