A man receives a COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine jab at Bạch Mai Hospital, Hà Nội. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The Government has decided to allocate an additional VNĐ7.65 trillion (US$320 million) to the Ministry of Health for the purchase of 61 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

According to a decision issued on June 30, Deputy Prime Minister Lê Minh Khái on behalf of Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính, approved the funding supplement for the procurement of 30 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine produced by AstraZeneca and 31 million by Pfizer, as per the request from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance.

VNĐ5.1 trillion is sourced from the VNĐ12.1 quadrillion in leftover budget from 2020 and VNĐ2.550 trillion sourced from the National COVID-19 Vaccine Fund (which as of 11am on July 1 has received VNĐ7.96 trillion in donations).

Additional funds will also be earmarked for the transport, distribution and storage of as well as the purchase of supplies for vaccines supplied from the COVAX Facility, foreign aid and sponsorship.

The Ministry of Health is in charge of purchasing and using COVID-19 vaccines.

Việt Nam has so far granted emergency use authorisation for five vaccines – A2D1222 by AstraZeneca, Sputnik-V by Gamalaya, Comirnaty by Pfizer, Vero-Cell by Sinopharm, and Spikevax by Moderna.

As of June 30, 3,776,980 million doses of vaccines have been administered in Việt Nam, with fully vaccinated people reaching 193,041. — VNS