The Ministry of Health announced on 30 January that it has approved the use of Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine for pandemic prevention and control in Viet Nam.

Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine is licensed in Viet Nam. - Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine was co-invented by the UK’s University of Oxford and its spin-out company AstraZeneca. This vaccine is recommended for people aged between 18 – 64.

This is the first COVID-19 vaccine licensed by the Ministry of Health for immunization to prevent COVID-19 caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in Viet Nam.

According to Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long, Astra Zeneca pledged to supply about 30 million doses of vaccine to Viet Nam in 2021.

The ministry is working with other partners to increase the number of vaccines for Viet Nam.

Astra Zeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine is expected to be available and injected into Vietnamese people in the first quarter of this year.

The ministry has also directed domestic vaccine producers to urgently conduct vaccine research, clinical trials and production.

The ministry said that Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology JSC (Nanogen) has completed the first phase of clinical trial of Nanocovax vaccine in the first phase, and it will carry out the second phase of trial in early February.

Meanwhile, the Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals (IVAC) in Nha Trang city began the first phase of trial for Covivax vaccine on 21 January, and the scheme is expected to be completed at the end of February.

Source: VNA