A batch of 500,000 doses of China-made SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine (Vero Cell), Inactivated arrived in Vietnam on June 20 as the Chinese government’s donation.

Sinopharm's Covid-19 vaccine arrives at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on June 20. Photo: MoH

The vaccine, which is developed by Chinese state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. (Sinopharm), is dedicated to vaccinating Chinese citizens working in Vietnam, Vietnamese people to study and work in China, and residents in need, especially those living in areas bordering with China.

Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine was approved by Beijing in December 2020 and was listed for emergency used by the World Health Organization (WHO) on May 7, 2021.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in May showed that Sinopharm’s two jabs are 72.8% and 78.1% effective at preventing symptomatic Covid-19, but said there is insufficient trial data from elderly and vulnerable groups.

Sinopharm has produced roughly 450 million doses, including 100 million doses supplied through the government’s donation and export. The vaccine has been available in more than 70 countries.

Thus far, Vietnam has received three kinds of Covid-19 vaccines namely Sinopharm; AstraZeneca from the COVAX Facility, import, and donated by Japan; and Sputnik V donated by Russia.

Regarding countermeasures, Ho Chi Minh City on June 20 raised the restrictions to one more level, which means that the stay-at-home order was imposed in affected and high-risk areas.

“The principle of lockdown is to stay where you are, do not go out except for an emergency. This is the strongest measure to fight the pandemic,” according to Deputy Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Duong Anh Duc, who is also head of the city’s Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control.

The widespread lockdown is aimed to minimize contact to enable the local authorities to stop the transmission clusters in the shortest time.

Along with that, the city will improve its testing capacity to 500,000 samples per day from the current 100,000/day.

Vietnam's Covid-19 cases of local transmission. Source: MoH. Chart: Minh Vu

As of June 20, the city reported 1,618 infections, just behind Bac Giang epicenter with 5,406 cases. Covid-19 has swept 42 out of 63 cities and provinces nationwide.

The country’s total caseload hit 13,211, including 64 deaths. Notably, nearly 10,000 cases were detected in the fresh outbreak that flared up in late April.

Today, some other localities confirming dozens of cases include Danang, Nghe An, and Binh Duong. Danang had undergone days without locally transmitted infections.

On the day, Binh Duong put Thuan An City and Tan Uyen Town on lockdown. The southeastern province of Binh Duong has 48 industrial parks and clusters, including some Vietnam Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIP), housing some thousands of companies.