Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính delivers a speech at the campaign launch on July 10. VNA/VNS Photos

HÀ NỘI – The nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign, the largest-ever immunisation drive in Việt Nam, kicked off with a ceremony held on Saturday.

Minister of Health Nguyễn Thanh Long said the campaign, to be conducted from July 2021 to April 2022, targeting people aged 18 and above, is the largest of its kind in the country, with the ultimate goal of protecting people’s health and lives and bring life back to normal as soon as possible.

Under the Government's and the Prime Minister’s directions, the Ministry of Health and relevant ministries and sectors have exerted every effort to acquire COVID-19 vaccines amid a global vaccine shortage.

So far, Việt Nam has secured 105 million vaccine doses for this year and is working to get 150 million doses so as to achieve herd immunity in late 2021 or early 2022.

This July, more than 8 million doses are set to be delivered to Việt Nam, which is on time for the pandemic’s complex developments in HCM City and some other southern localities, Long added.

Addressing the launch, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính said to help the country eliminate the pandemic, the Party and State are determined to carry out the vaccine strategy.

Particularly, the COVID-19 vaccine fund has attracted great support from people both at home and abroad and enterprises. It has so far received donations worth more than VNĐ8 trillion (US$348 million), which is being spent on purchasing vaccines for people, he noted.

The first vaccine doses arriving in Việt Nam have been prioritised for frontline forces, and they have been distributed in a fair, equal, open, transparent, flexible, and effective manner, he remarked, elaborating that the previous vaccine batches were provided for workers and residents in Bắc Ninh and Bắc Giang provinces, which were being hit hard by COVID-19 in the past few months, but vaccines are now prioritised for HCM City and nearby provinces where the pandemic situation is worsening.

Stressing the need for good coordination in vaccine distribution, Chính said to implement the vaccine strategy, the Party and State will also step up domestic production and import of vaccines so as to secure vaccine supply for every year.

He took this occasion to call for the entire people’s unanimity, solidarity, support, and sense of community responsibility to defeat the pandemic while also asking people to stay vigilant, even after getting inoculated, and seriously comply with the health ministry’s guidelines.

PM Chính talks to health workers at the campaign.

In his speech, the Government leader lauded efforts by frontline forces such as healthcare, military, and public security personnel, along with people’s support for the COVID-19 combat and the vaccination campaign.

The health ministry’s allocation of vaccines to cities and provinces, along with other statistics regarding vaccinations, will be made public on the website tiemchungcovid19.gov.vn/portal.

The health minister called for an "intense" application of information technology for vaccination management. People can register for vaccination appointments and submit their health status and update their post-injection reactions through the Sổ Sức Khoẻ Điện Tử (electronic health book app).

Prior to the launch, Chính visited the operation centre of the national COVID-19 vaccination campaign, based at the headquarters of the Ministry of National Defence.

This centre works around the clock and is connected with the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, the 63 provinces and cities, along with military regions across Việt Nam.

Online registration for COVID-19 vaccination

Military-run telecom group Viettel on Friday said the COVID-19 immunisation management platform, designated to serve the mass inoculation programme nationwide, is now ready for use.

Viettel-developed e-health record application is available for download.

The platform comprises four systems – an e-health record application, a portal for COVID-19 immunisation information, a system supporting national vaccination, and a Mission Control Centre, with its database to be managed centrally and transparently.

People can register to get a COVID-19 vaccine and track their vaccination record via the e-health record application and immunisation information portal.

The platform is expected to help speed up the nationwide vaccination campaign; increase its safety, effectiveness and transparency; and support the management, supervision and study of COVID-19 vaccination in Việt Nam.

Before working on the platform, Viettel operated a national immunisation system connecting about 14,000 vaccination centres across the country for six years.

The nationwide COVID-19 inoculation drive will be implemented in all 63 cities and provinces with 19,500 vaccination centres. The Ministry of Health expects at least half of Vietnamese aged 18 and above will be vaccinated against the coronavirus by the end of 2021, and more than 70 percent of the population will receive the vaccine by the end of the first quarter of 2022. VNS