About 19,000 doses of Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine will be given to employees of FPT Company, at the company's request. — Photo tienphong.vn

HCM CITY —  HCM City has provided 19,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine developed by the China National Pharmaceutical Group to FPT, according to the HCM City Centre for Disease Control (HCDC).

At a press conference held yesterday, Nguyễn Hoài Nam, director of the city’s Department of Health, said that FPT Company had requested the vaccines for its employees. The 19,000 shots were allocated to the city by the Ministry of Health on July 6. 

For one million doses of Sinopharm vaccine that arrived on July 31 at HCM City's Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport, the city carries on vaccination for three groups of people including Chinese nationals living and working in the country, Vietnamese residents in border areas with China and people who engage in trade and service exchanges with Việt Nam's northern neighbour.

In early July, the health ministry gave permission to the State-owned Saigon Pharmaceutical Group (Sapharco) in HCM City to buy vaccines from Sinopharm. 

About 1.6 million of Hải Phòng's two million people are eligible for vaccines, but the health ministry has allocated only about 165,000 doses to the city. The People’s Committee of Hải Phòng has asked HCM City to provide 500,000 out of the one million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine now in storage.

Hải Phòng plans to vaccinate priority groups, including long-distance drivers and workers at Chinese enterprises. — VNS