Initial doses of vaccine arrive in Hanoi on February 24. (Photo: NDO)

The information was announced by Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long during the meeting of the Government on February 24. 

“This year, there will not be a shortage of vaccine, while the ministry will mobilize all resources to accelerate vaccine injection coverage for promptly opening the economy,” said Minister Long.

According to Minister Long, the first 117,000 doses arriving in Vietnam on February 24, will be prioritized for medical staff at COVID-19 patient treatment foundations; guards at quarantine spots; public security forces at isolated areas; forces taking blood samples and tracing people relating to known COVID-19 patients; forces fighting the pandemic at communities; and journalists working at pandemic-infected areas.

The first doses of vaccines will be injected in early March. Meanwhile, an additional 1.2 million doses are expected to arrive in Vietnam in late March.

Regarding domestically produced vaccines, Minister Long said that the proceedings continued progress with the first doses expected in early 2022.

Statistics from the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control showed that as of February 25 morning, the number of COVID-19 patients reported in Vietnam was 2412, including 1,513 locally transmitted cases.

Vietnam has 88,583 people who came in close contact with COVID-19 patients or arrived from pandemic-hit areas under quarantine nationwide, including 592 at hospitals, 12,112 at other quarantine sites, and 75,879 at home.

Among the patients under treatment, 62 have tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 once, 57 twice and 77 thrice.

According to the Treatment Sub-committee, with the additional 14 patients declared clear of the coronavirus on February 25 morning, Vietnam has seen 1,804 recoveries so far./.

Compiled by BTA