(photo: Ministry of Health)

Many localities are accelerating the injection of the booster jab. The result which is higher than many countries in the region reflects the success of Vietnam’s largest ever vaccination program.

In the fight against COVID-19, the Vietnamese Party, State, government, and agencies, particularly the Ministry of Health have implemented several measures to contain the pandemic with vaccination being considered the most effective solution. In its vaccination strategy, Vietnam has focused on import, technology transfer, research and production of vaccine in order to have enough vaccines as soon as possible.

On February 1, 2021, the Ministry of Health approved the use of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for emergency purposes, the first vaccine imported to Vietnam. Later the Ministry approved 8 other types of COVID-19 vaccines including Sputnik V, Vero Cell, Comirnaty of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Janssen, Hayat-Vax, Abdala and Covaxin.

According to the Ministry of Health, Vietnam received 192 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from February to December 2021 through various sources including the State budget, donors, and sponsors.

The Ministry of Health is urging localities to speed up vaccination with priority for people over 50 and those with underlying diseases. Vietnam aims to complete the injection of booster doses by the first quarter of this year.