A resident of Côn Đảo Island District off the coast of southern Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province was vaccinated against COVID-19 on June 12. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Health has sent a document to major epidemiological institutes urging them to speed up the COVID-19 vaccination rollout.

The document, dated on Monday, was sent to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, the Pasteur Institutes in HCM City and Nha Trang City, and the Tây Nguyên Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology.

According to the ministry, all localities and relevant units have received COVID-19 vaccines for the third phase of the vaccination programme and began inoculations.

The third phase comprises Oxford/AstraZeneca doses, with 1,682,200 delivered from COVAX via UNICEF on May 16, and 288,000 delivered on May 25 as part of a deal for 30 million doses with AstraZeneca within 2021.

AstraZeneca doses from COVAX and the order with the manufacturer also made up the primary supply of the first and second phase of inoculation drive in Việt Nam, which to date, still prioritises frontline workers and recently, workers in severe outbreaks connected to industrial zones in the two northern provinces of Bắc Giang and Bắc Ninh.

Bắc Ninh's health authorities recently said all 150,000 doses allocated for third phase of vaccination had been administered, with 90,000 workers at industrial zones in the province receiving one dose.

Under Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính's instructions on speeding up the administering of COVID-19 vaccinations, the ministry has asked the units and localities to complete the work before June 18.

The ministry has also asked the institutes to send technical groups to cities and provinces to supervise vaccinations there.

The same day, the ministry sent another document to the Ministries of National Defence and Public Security, and People’s Committees of cities and provinces to speed up the programme.

According to a Tuesday morning report from the health ministry, a further 54,328 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered on Monday, bringing the national total to 1,552,651.

A total of 59,608 people have been fully vaccinated with two doses.

The Central Lung Hospital on Tuesday said it gave the vaccine shots to 600 members of foreign diplomatic missions and organisations under the United Nations' system in Việt Nam on June 9-10.

Vietnamese diplomats and staff in missions overseas have also been inoculated against COVID-19 with various types of vaccines depending on local availability. VNS