As many as 1,113,400 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on August 13 morning, according to the Viet Nam Vaccine Company (VNVC).

AstraZeneca vaccine in Viet Nam Vaccine Company's cold storage. (Photo from VNVC)

This is the eighth shipment from the VNVC’s order of 30 million doses with AstraZeneca, the entirety of which would be handed over to the Ministrty of Health at a not-for-profit price.

VNVC earlier stated that starting from July, each week, AstraZeneca would ship about 1 million doses of vaccine to Viet Nam, and the commitment has been largely kept.

To date, 5.5 million doses, or nearly 20 percent of the deal, have been delivered, nearly six months after the first batch reached Viet Nam in late February.

VNVC said it was also in talks with other vaccine manufacturers for potential deals.

With the latest batch, Viet Nam currently has received some 19 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine in total, mostly AstraZeneca (11.5 million), Moderna (5 million), and Sinopharm’s Vero Cell (1.5 million).

The Ministry of Health has warned that in the third quarter, deliveries would be few and far between, and most of the vaccines from international commitments and purchase deals would arrive in droves in the final quarter of the year.

Over 13 million doses have been administered in Viet Nam, with more than 1.1 million people being fully vaccinated.

Source: VNA