The first 204,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine are expected to arrive in Vietnam on February 28.

According to Document No. 1215/QLD-KD on importing drugs without a circulation registration certificate to meet urgent needs forCovid-19 preventionJust signed by Mr. Le Viet Dung, Deputy Director of the Department of Drug Administration (Ministry of Health) yesterday, the Department of Drug Administration has approved AstraZeneca Vietnam Company Limited to importCovid-19 vaccineAstraZeneca, 204,000 doses.

Vaccine name: COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca. Manufacturer: SK Bioscience Co Limited-Korea

According to this decision, vaccines imported for urgent use in disease prevention and control must meet the conditions attached to the vaccine approval document dated February 1 of the Minister of Health.

The document also clearly states that AstraZeneca Vietnam Company Limited must be responsible for the origin and quality of imported vaccines to ensure the use of vaccines for the right purpose, safely, effectively, and in accordance with the commitment.

Illustration photo.

AstraZeneca must comply with current regulations on export, import, circulation and distribution of drugs and related regulations.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is the first Covid-19 vaccine approved for conditional import into Vietnam. This vaccine was researched and developed by AstraZeneca Pharmaceutical Company in collaboration with Oxford University (UK). This vaccine has been licensed for 1 year of circulation or conditional import in the Philippines, Thailand, UK, Vietnam and several other countries.

It is expected that the first batch of vaccines will arrive in Vietnam on February 28. At the same time, about 4.88 million doses of vaccines from the COVAX facility are also expected to arrive in Vietnam. Thus, we have about more than 5 million doses to vaccinate the first dose for more than 5 million people.

At the online meeting of the Government Standing Committee with the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control and localities with the epidemic on the afternoon of February 15, Deputy Minister of Health Truong Quoc Cuong said that the Ministry of Health has been very proactive and determined in receiving Covid-19 vaccines from the COVAX facility. Currently, the procedures for receiving vaccines under the COVAX facility program have basically been completed.

Accordingly, by the end of February, if flights are arranged in time and procedures are completed well, vaccines will be available from two sources: 4.88 million doses from the COVAX facility program and imported sources.

After 3 months, we can have more than 5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine. Thus, Vietnam is one of the countries in Southeast Asia with relatively good access to Covid-19 vaccine.

Previously, according to the announcement of COVAX, Vietnam will receive the Covid-19 vaccine in this first phase with the expected number of vaccines (indicative doses) that Vietnam will receive from 4,886,400 doses to 8,253,600 doses, of which 25 - 35% of the doses will be provided in the first quarter and 65 - 75% in the second quarter of 2021. The vaccine used in this phase is the Astra Zeneca vaccine.

The COVAX facility is a mechanism set up to ensure countries have equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines. Under this mechanism, the World Health Organization (WHO) coordinates with GAVI, UNICEF, CEPI, vaccine manufacturers and partners to ensure countries have equitable and efficient access to vaccines.

COVAX will ensure that participating countries have access to vaccines covering about 20% of their population in 2021.

Along with promoting cooperation and negotiating sources of Covid-19 vaccines from abroad, Vietnam is also making efforts to promote the research and development of "made in Vietnam" Covid-19 vaccines. Before the Lunar New Year, Vietnam completed 120/120 injections of phase 1 clinical trials on 60 volunteers of the Nano Covax vaccine. Phase 1 was to evaluate the safety of the vaccine and initially evaluate the immune response on 3 dose groups of 25mcg, 50mcg and 75mcg.

Initially, experts assessed that the Nano Covax vaccine is safe, creates a good immune response, and is effective against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, including variants. Most volunteers after vaccination are in stable health, a few cases have pain at the injection site, mild fever but all go away after 1-2 days. The Military Medical Academy is continuing to compile data to report to the Ministry of Health. It is expected that right after Tet, the Council of Science and Biomedical Ethics, Ministry of Health will meet to evaluate before approving the implementation of phase 2 experimental injection.

Phase 2 will be tested on 560 volunteers for 6 months, with the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology and the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City participating in the trial.

Phase 3 is expected to vaccinate over 10,000 volunteers, expanding to a number of countries with Covid-19 epidemics in the community, to be completed in early 2022.