Viet Nam no longer uses AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine

Viet Nam has no longer used AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine since last July, a representative from the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology announced.

The announcement was made following AstraZeneca’s decision to withdraw Covid-19 vaccine worldwide after admitting it can cause rare blood clots.

So far, Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine is the only available vaccine in Viet Nam with expiry date by this September.

The Ministry of Health recommended that people should not be worried about the side effects of Covid-19 vaccine AstraZeneca, following reports of the vaccine potentially causing blood clots.

Luong Ngoc Khue, head of the Department of Medical Service Administration, said the vaccine’s potential side effects in certain cases would only occur within 28 days of inoculation. He suggested people who have been vaccinated for more than a month should not be worried about it.

When the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, Viet Nam purchased 30 million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, along with donated doses.

By mid-2023, Viet Nam had administered over 266.5 million vaccine doses, becoming one of the countries with the highest Covid-19 vaccination coverages in the world.