A medic receives the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday morning before leaving for the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission in the Republic of South Sudan on March 24. —VNA/VNS Photo Đinh Hằng

HÀ NỘI — Seventy medics, who will leave for the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission in the Republic of South Sudan on March 24, received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at the 175 Military Hospital in HCM City on Tuesday morning.

Major General Nguyễn Hồng Sơn, director of the hospital, said it would send the vaccine to South Sudan so that the medics can get the second dose at the second-level Field Hospital in the country.

The move was to protect the health of the medics on duty in South Sudan as well as giving them more confidence to complete their duties, he said.

Captain Trần Thuận Trang, Chief Nurse of the field hospital, who was the first person to be vaccinated against the virus that causes COVID-19, said: “The vaccination makes me and other colleagues feel more reassured before we undertake our mission in South Sudan.”

Major Trịnh Mỹ Hòa, director of the field hospital, said all medics of the hospital were ready to go to South Sudan.

“The vaccination will give great encouragement to the medics amid the COVID-19 pandemic,” she added.

However, the vaccination was just one of the measures to fight against the pandemic, she said.

“We will seriously obey the anti-pandemic regulations that have been applied in Việt Nam to carry out our work,” she said.

The 175 Military Hospital has been allocated 2,100 doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine so far.

After giving vaccinations to the medics, who will leave for the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission in the Republic of South Sudan on March 24, the hospital plans to vaccinate priority groups, including General-level officers; military officers on their business trips abroad; soldiers who work at Việt Nam’s oil rig cluster DK1; and medics at the 175 Military Hospital's departments of examination, emergency recovery as well as infectious diseases and testing.

The hospital will also coordinate with the Border Guard Command to vaccinate soldiers who work at the border gate and quarantine stations in Tây Ninh Province. — VNS

Vietnamese peacekeeping officers standing outside the 175 Military Hospital in HCM City on Tuesday ready to get vaccinated against COVID-19. — VNA/VNS Photo Đinh Hằng