A health worker in Hà Nội prepares an AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine shot for administration. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoàng Hiếu

HÀ NỘI — The final batch of 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from Việt Nam’s contract for 30 million doses from the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company has arrived in the country.

The shipments of further vaccines from the remainder of the deal for an additional 25 million doses, signed between Việt Nam Vaccine Company (VNVC) and AstraZeneca during Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính’s visit to the UK on November 2, will begin later this month and continue throughout 2022.

Nitin Kapoor, Chairman and General Director at AstraZeneca Việt Nam and Asia Area Frontier Markets, said this shipment marked an important milestone in the journey to protect public health and stimulate economic recovery in Việt Nam.

The foundation that helps AstraZeneca fulfil this order in a timely manner is the cooperation and close coordination between AstraZeneca, the Vietnamese Government, VNVC and the Ministry of Health, which helped facilitate the agreement.

The AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine was the first to obtain conditional approval for emergency use in Việt Nam and also the first to have arrived in the country and first to have been administered for Vietnamese people.

To date, Việt Nam has received over 157 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with 142.2 million shots already distributed.

About 131 million doses have been administered in the country. — VNS