HCMC – Residents in HCMC will only be vaccinated against Covid-19 with their approval and those who refuse will not be fined, said HCMC Vice Chairman Duong Anh Duc.
At a press briefing today, August 3, Duc said the city had launched its sixth vaccination drive, which will last until the end of the month, using the AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfizer vaccines allocated by the Ministry of Health.
The city received 2.5 million vaccine doses and has injected local residents with some two million doses, including 70,000 people having received both doses.
If the city receives sufficient vaccines, it will meet the target to vaccinate 70% of residents aged over 18 in the city this month. To reach the target, HCMC proposed the Ministry of Health provide it with 5-5.5 million doses, Duc said.
The city can administer 300,000 doses per day with 1,200 vaccination teams.
As for the one million doses of China’s Covid-19 vaccine Vero Cell, which the city was presented with, it is now being assessed and inspected by the Ministry of Health, so the city will not use it in the sixth vaccination drive.
All vaccines provided to Vietnam must be approved by the World Health Organization and Vietnam for emergency use and AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer and Vero Cell meet the requirements.
According to the municipal Department of Health, as of August 2, the city injected more than 920,300 Covid vaccine doses in the fifth drive, which lasted for 10 days, from July 22.
During the vaccination drive, more than 1,000 people developed side effects but they were all safe.
By Le Anh
