Vietnam will proceed with AstraZeneca vaccination for its national immunization program despite several side-effects, Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long has said.

Speaking at a government regular meeting held in Hanoi on March 17, Long said Vietnam has not recorded any blood clot case in people injected with the vaccine. “The ministry has directed all healthcare facilities chosen for the inoculation program to continue with the task.”

A medical staff of the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases 2 in Hanoi got Covid-19 vaccine shot on March 8. Photo: Ngoc Tu

Vietnam is using the AstraZeneca vaccine for the national immunization program. The country began its mass Covid-19 vaccination campaign on March 8, prioritizing frontline workers in the Covid-19 fight.

A total of 24,054 people in 12 cities and provinces have so far received their first shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine, according to report of the National Expanded Program on Immunization.

Vietnam imported more than 117,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in late February. An additional 5.6 million doses of the same vaccine are expected to arrive in March and April.

The AstraZeneca vaccine, which has been approved for use in over 70 countries and territories, is raising global concerns as cases of deaths and blood clots were recorded in several nations following inoculation.

Some countries, including France, Denmark, Italy and Germany, have temporarily discontinued the vaccine use after reports of blood clots in people who received the shot.

AstraZeneca and European Medicines Agency have said there has been no evidence to prove the vaccine caused blood clots, and stressed its benefits far outweigh the risk of contracting Covid-19. The World Health Organization has called on governments around the world to continue their vaccination campaigns.

Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long speaks at a regular government meeting on March 17. Photo: Quang Hieu

No new cases reported

Vietnam detected no new cases of Covid-19 on March 18 morning.

Vietnam’s number of domestically-transmitted infections stands at 1,599, including 906 cases since the third outbreak hit the country in late January, keeping the national count unchanged at 2,567, the ministry said.

As many as 36,923 people who had close contact with Covid-19 patients or came from pandemic-hit areas are under medical monitoring nationwide, including 496 in hospitals, 17,396 in concentrated quarantine establishments, and 19,031 at their residences.

The treatment sub-committee under the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control reported that 2,198 patients have been given the all-clear so far.

Among the active patients, 37 have tested negative for the novel coronavirus once, 18 twice and 63 three times.

Hanoi and ten other cities and provinces, including Hoa Binh, Dien Bien, Ha Giang, Binh Duong, Hung Yen, Bac Giang, Gia Lai, Bac Ninh, Quang Ninh and Ho Chi Minh City, which had recorded Covid-19 cases, have gone through 33 straight days without detecting new locally infected cases.