Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính (second from left) at the launch of the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign on July 10 where he examines vaccine delivery and inoculation trucks donated by Truong Hai Auto Corporation (THACO). — VNA.VNS Photo Dương Giang

HÀ NỘI — Military units are preparing cold warehouses and transportation to help deliver and preserve nearly 113 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines across the country, a top army official has said.

Speaking at a meeting on COVID-19 prevention and control at the Ministry of Defence on Wednesday, Major General Nguyễn Xuân Kiên said the headquarters for the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign has been established at the ministry.

Kiên, who is head of medical at the ministry’s General Department of Logistics, said the army is reviewing and establishing cold storage at eight locations throughout the country, including the capital city of Hà Nội, to keep and preserve the vaccines from now until 2022.

More than 1,300 military trucks have been prepared to deliver the vaccines, with another 562 on standby, he added.

“We have asked for 295 inoculation teams, as well as 91 resuscitation and emergency teams, to be established, and stand ready to carry out inoculations at hospitals, military health centres, academies and schools,” Kiên said.

Major General Nguyễn Đức Tùng, head of transport at the General Department of Logistics, said his unit has been tasked with transferring the vaccines to 63 districts across the country.

Due to the differences in travel conditions in each area, they will be using different types of transport for the deliveries, mostly road transport, he said.

From now until July 31, in circumstances of the utmost importance, the vaccines will be delivered to localities in three days, including on the day of inoculation, Tùng added.

Vaccines that must be preserved at 2-8 degrees Celsius (which include Pfizer, Moderna, Janssen) will be delivered in two days. Those that must be preserved at -25 to -15 degrees Celsius (Sputnik V in the frozen form) will be delivered in less than two days, he said.

Tùng asked for close collaboration with the Ministry of Health to review and confirm the number of doses each locality needs, as well as contact points and places of delivery locations three days in advance.

“For mountainous provinces such as Điện Biên, Lai Châu and island districts such as Côn Đảo, Trường Sa, I suggest that the Ministry of Health work with the Ministry of Transport to arrange deliveries by airplanes, and prepare specialised equipment for cold storage throughout the deliveries.” — VNS