The ministry also said that it expects three million doses of Covid-19 vaccines developed by American firm Pfizer and Germany BioNTech Inc. to be delivered in the third quarter and 27-28 million doses in the fourth quarter. The purchase of these vaccines is being funded by the state budget.

A vial labelled with the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine is seen in this illustration picture taken March 19, 2021.

In May, the ministry had negotiated and signed a contract with Pfizer to purchase 31 million doses. On June 12, the ministry approved the vaccine for emergency use.

This is the fourth Covid-19 vaccine to be urgently approved by Vietnam, after AstraZeneca (U.K.), Sputnik V (Russia) and Sinopharm (China).

The ministry said that about eight million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have reached Vietnam, mostly through the Covax, a global mechanism for developing, manufacturing and procuring Covid-19 vaccine candidates and help member countries access vaccines as they become available. Vietnam has garnered commitments for the supply of 105 million doses from different sources.

The country is negotiating for an additional 45 million doses, aiming to secure 150 million vaccine doses this year to cover 70 percent of the population. It is projected the majority of Covid-19 vaccine shipments will arrive in September and October.

Vietnam has been using the AstraZeneca vaccine for its inoculation program thus far. Over 3.6 million people have been vaccinated to date, of which more than 204,000 have received two shots.

Vietnam to receive 1 million more vaccine doses from Japan

One million doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine donated by Japan are expected to be delivered to Vietnam on July 1 and July 8, the Ministry of Health said on June 29.

Prime Minister asks for AstraZeneca’s support in vaccine strategy implementation

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had an emergency meeting with AstraZeneca in Hanoi on June 29, asking the firm to create the best possible conditions to help Vietnam effectively implement the Covid-19 vaccine strategy.

Vietnamese-American professor funded to develop Whitmore's disease vaccine

A group of researchers led by a Vietnamese-American professor has been granted $3 million by the U.S. defence department to create a vaccine against melioidosis.

Vero-Cell Covid-19 vaccine by Sinopharm

A flight transporting 500,000 doses of Vero-Cell vaccine against Covid-19 produced by Sinopharm arrived in Noi Bai airport in Hanoi on June 20.

Vietnam to trial vaccine passport program in July

Vietnam will trial its vaccine passport program in July in the northern province of Quang Ninh, under which vaccinated or recovered foreign entrants will be quarantined for seven days.

Source: VnExpress