A medical work measures blood pressure for a man before taking a dose of COVID-19 vaccine to him in the northern province of Thái Nguyên on February 3. — VNA/VNS Photo Thu Hằng

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Health has ordered 12 provinces and cities to spend up administering the Abdala COVID-19 vaccine before it reaches its expiry date.

“We must not let the vaccines be destroyed due to the expiration date,” the ministry said.

The move came after the ministry recently sent an official dispatch to the Secretary of the provincial Party Committee, the city’s Party Committee and the Chairman of the People's Committee in 12 provinces and cities to speed up the implementation of Cuba's Abdala vaccination.

The provinces and cities consist of Thanh Hóa, Hải Dương, Thái Nguyên, Quảng Trị, Quảng Nam, Bình Định, Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Tiền Giang, Cần Thơ, An Giang and Kiên Giang.

According to the ministry, the provinces and cities have actively implemented COVID-19 vaccination campaigns for people aged 12 and over so far.

In October and November 2021, the ministry already allocated five million doses of the Abdala vaccine to the localities.

The vaccines are believed to be enough to provide three doses for people from 19 to 65 years old in the localities, the ministry said.

However, as of January 28, 2022, data shows that the number of Abdala vaccines currently available in the localities are 541,400 doses.

The ministry has now tasked the localities urgently review and mobilise local people to get injections of the second and booster doses following the Prime Minister's direction at Official Dispatch 64/CĐ-TTg dated January 19, 2022 on speeding up the completion of vaccination against COVID-19, ensuring safety and effectiveness of the pandemic prevention and control.

The ministry also added that it is a very important and urgent task, requesting the Secretary of the provincial Party Committees, the Secretary of the city’s Party Committees and the head of the People's Committees of the provinces and cities to urgently complete the mission.

The Secretary of the provincial Party Committees, the Secretary of the city’s Party Committees and the head of the People's Committees of the provinces and cities must answer to Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính if they let any vaccine dose to be destroyed due to expiration, the ministry said.

Cuba's Abdala vaccine was given conditional approval by the ministry for emergency use in the prevention and control of COVID-19 pandemic on September 17, 2021.

It is the eighth COVID-19 vaccine approved by Việt Nam.

Each 0.5ml dose of Abdala vaccine consists of 50 mcg of recombinant protein vaccine, containing the receptor-binding region (RBG) of SARS-CoV-2 and preparing as a suspension for intramuscular injection.

The vaccine is packaged in a box of 10 vials, each containing 10 doses, each dose of 0.5ml.

Abdala vaccine is indicated for vaccination for people from 19 to 65 years old, the schedule includes three doses, the interval between doses is 14 days. — VNS