Foreign
VIETNAM has approved the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, the nation’s health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Moderna is now the fifth vaccine to receive approval from the Vietnamese Government, following AstraZeneca, Sputnik V, Pfizer, and Sinopharm vaccines earlier this year.
Moderna’s jab was developed from the messenger RNA, or mRNA, which consisted of genetic instructions for human cells to make just a fragment of the coronavirus.
Vietnam has generally been praised for its response to the pandemic.
But after a month without any community transmission of the virus, local cases emerged again on April 27 and over 10,000 have been reported since.
The country has vaccinated less than 3.5 million of its total population of 98 million people.
Vietnam said it expected to receive 120 million vaccine doses in 2021, nearly 39 million of which would be provided through the World Health Organisation’s COVAX initiative.
In early June, Vietnam’s health ministry stated it had secured a deal to get 31 million Pfizer vaccine doses this year.
On June 20, Vietnam also received a donation of 500,000 doses of the Chinese-made Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines, yet these vaccine doses were to be offered to Chinese nationals living in Vietnam and those who planed to visit China for work or study. (dpa/NAN)
– June 29, 2021 @ 10:14 GMT|
Tags: Vietnam approves Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use
