AstraZeneca to deliver 8 mln Covid vaccines this month as contracted

Pascal Soriot, the company’s CEO, apprised Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh about this at a meeting with him in the U.K. on Tuesday.

Chinh said he deeply appreciated AstraZeneca’s contribution to Vietnam’s Covid-19 vaccination efforts, having provided around 22 million doses so far. He hoped it would deliver the rest of the doses due in November and sign new contracts for 2022.

Soriot said his company would deliver the doses as promised despite a global vaccine shortage.

It would also deliver next month part of 25 million doses under a new contract the two sides have signed for a new vaccine candidate, he added.

According to the new contract, the Vietnam Vaccine JSC (VNVC) has the option of buying the AZD2816 vaccine in 2022 if approved by authorities. It is under clinical trials and is intended to bolster the body’s defense against coronavirus variants.

AstraZeneca and VNVC have also signed an agreement to supply some vaccines and monoclonal antibodies, which, if approved by the Ministry of Health, could be used on immunocompromised people and those not responsive to vaccines.

In Vietnam, 58 million have received at least one Covid vaccine shot, while 25.1 million are fully vaccinated.