Low vaccination-rate localities to have doses given away

By Viet Tuan August 2, 2021 | 02:08 am PT

A medical worker prepares a Moderna Covid-19 vaccine shot in Hanoi, July 28, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy.

Localities and Covid-19 vaccination units too slow at administering shots would have their vaccine doses given away for others to use, the Health Ministry stated Sunday.

The request was made as certain localities and units were "too slow in receiving, distributing and deploying Covid-19 vaccine shots," while more vaccine batches may arrive in the near future for localities to boost their rates within this year, the ministry said

Directors of local health departments would be responsible when it comes to Covid-19 vaccination speed, it noted.

The health ministry has requested localities and units to speed up vaccinations, adding that their daily vaccination progress would be recorded and publicized for the people to monitor.

Vietnam has so far vaccinated over 6.4 million people against Covid-19, with around 660,000 having been fully immunized.

Ho Chi Minh City, the most heavily hit locality during Vietnam's fourth coronavirus wave, received three million vaccine doses, followed by Hanoi with two million. Other localities typically received between tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands.