'There is no way Nghe An is slow in vaccinating and has nearly 1 million doses of vaccine in stock'

On the evening of November 17, Associate Professor, Dr. Duong Dinh Chinh - Director of Nghe An Department of Health said that up to now, Nghe An has injected more than 2 million doses of vaccine. Of which, nearly 500,000 people have been fully vaccinated with 2 doses of vaccine.

Mr. Chinh said that the information about Nghe An's slow vaccination and nearly 1 million doses remaining in stock is incorrect.

Previously, on November 14, the Ministry of Health sent a dispatch to localities urging the progress of vaccination, stating that there were still 18 million doses that had been allocated to localities but had not been used. The North still had more than 5.2 million doses left, the South had 8.2 million. Of which, according to the Ministry of Health, the provinces and cities with the most remaining doses were Hanoi with 760,000 doses; Thanh Hoa 639,000 doses; Nghe An 910,000 doses; Ho Chi Minh City 506,000 doses; An Giang 1.2 million.

Nghe An has administered more than 2 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine. Photo: TH

On the afternoon of November 17, during the online conference to review the vaccination progress with localities, the Ministry of Health continued to name 4 localities for the reason of slow vaccination and vaccine inventory. These localities include:

- Nam Dinh has been allocated more than 1.88 million doses, but has only administered more than 1.02 million doses.
- Thanh Hoa has been allocated more than 3.45 million doses, but has only administered more than 1.88 million doses.
- Nghe An has been allocated more than 3.78 million doses, but has only administered more than 2.83 million doses.
- Son La has been allocated more than 634 thousand doses, and has only administered more than 583 thousand doses.

However, localities immediately responded to this information. According to Associate Professor, Dr. Duong Dinh Chinh, Nghe An has been allocated more than 3.7 million doses of vaccine. Of these, 871,000 doses of Apdala vaccine have been transferred to the warehouse for 2 days but have not yet been scheduled for injection. "This Apdala vaccine is allocated for the 2nd and 3rd injections. The schedule for the 2nd injection has not yet come, it will not start until November 18. That is why we have to wait, not to inject late and then leave it in stock," said Mr. Chinh.

In addition, of the more than 3.7 million doses of vaccine that have been allocated, 500,000 doses of Moderna vaccine and 450,000 doses of Verocell vaccine have not yet been delivered to Nghe An. "We have not received the vaccine yet, so how can we say that there is inventory?", said the head of Nghe An's health sector.