500,000 doses of Chinese Sinopharm vaccine arrive in Hanoi

These doses will be administered to Chinese citizens residing in Vietnam, Vietnamese who will study, work or go to China for business purposes, and those who require this vaccine, especially in areas near Vietnam's border with China.

The vaccine, called Vero Cell, is produced by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products Co.Ltd.

Vietnam approved the emergency use of the vaccine on June 4.

Vaccines and syringes arrived in Hanoi's Noi Bai Airport, June 20, 2021. Photo by V.Thu.

The vaccine was approved by China last December and by WHO for emergency use last month. It has been shipped to more than 70 countries, including those in Southeast Asia like Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.

More than 450 million doses of Vero Cell have been produced, with more than 100 million given away to other countries and selling for enterprises.

Vietnam has been using the AstraZeneca vaccine for its vaccination program. It has approved four Covid-19 vaccines so far: U.K.'s AstraZeneca, Russia's Generium, China's Sinopharm and a vaccine developed by U.S.-based firm Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech Inc.