Viet Nam may set up US$1.1 billion COVID-19 vaccine fund

The total funding includes VND16 trillion from the State budget while the rest will be mobilized from local budget, business community, and organizations.

The fund will be used to purchase 150 COVID-19 vaccine doses for around 75 million Vietnamese.

The Government is pursuing “5K vaccine” strategy, which means combining strict implementation of the 5K (in Vietnamese) campaign: Khau trang (facemask) - (Khu khuan) disinfection - (Khoang cach) distance - (Khong tu tap) no gathering – (Khai bao y te) health declaration as well as the ongoing national vaccination program.

Viet Nam has received a total of 2,611,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses, including 2,493,600 ones shipped by the COVAX Facility.

More than 1,011,390 front liners, including health workers have been vaccinated between March 8 and May 18, according to the Ministry of Health.

As of 6:00 am on May 20, the Southeast Asian country confirmed 4,720 COVID-19 cases, including 1,677 local infections reported in 29 cities and provinces since April 27 when the fourth wave of local transmissions broke out./.

By Kim Loan