Head of the Propaganda and Education Board under the HCMC Party Committee, Phan Nguyen Nhu Khue (L) and Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of HCMC Duong Anh Duc at the press conference (Photo: SGGP)
The statement was made by Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of HCMC Duong Anh Duc at a press conference held by the HCMC Steering Committee for Covid-19 prevention and control on August 3.
According to statistics, HCMC has around seven million people aged 18 years and over. Two million of these people received Covid-19 vaccine shots.
The city has at present 800,000 individuals who will get the second shots of AstraZeneca vaccine, and 200,000 people will receive the second shots of Moderna vaccine by the end of this month, he said.
HCMC has deployed 1,200 vaccination teams. If each unit delivers 250 shots per day, the city could reach a target of 300,000 shots a day, even the larger number of 350,000 shots per day with a plentiful supply of vaccines, Mr. Duc stressed.
Regarding to one million doses of Vero Cell vaccines against Covid-19 produced by China’s Sinopharm arrived in HCMC on July 31, the Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee said that these vaccine doses have been sent to the functional departments of the Ministry of Health for evaluation of its standards for effectiveness, safety and quality.
The vaccination is voluntary. Everyone will get the vaccine after they give informed consent, he emphasized.
Answering the question on imposing penalties for vaccine rejection, the city’s leader affirmed that according to the policy of the Vietnamese State, Covid-19 vaccination is free and voluntary for all Vietnamese people.
To be approved for use, Covid-19 vaccines must meet two requirements that they have been granted emergency use authorizations by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Vietnam.
HCMC has currently Covid-19 vaccines approved for use including AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer and Sinopharm’s Vero Cell.
Sinopharm's Vero Cell Covid-19 vaccine was approved by WHO and Vietnam on May 7 and June 3 respectively, he added.
Speaking at the meeting, Vice Chairman of the City People’s Committe Duong Anh Duc said that according to data released by the HCMC Health Department, the fifth phase of HCMC’s Covid-19 vaccination program gave 920,329 doses of vaccines consisting of AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Pfizer that were distributed by the Ministry of Health from July 22 to August 3. 1,039 people had mild allergic reactions after vaccination and received immediate appropriate medical treatment.
As of present, the city received 2.5 million doses of vaccines. About two million people have been vaccinated with one jab and 70,000 people have fully got two shots.
