HCM City, Đồng Nai and Bình Dương provinces wait for further vaccine allocations

HCM City, Đồng Nai and Bình Dương provinces wait for further vaccine allocations

HCM CITY— HCM City and its neighbouring provinces of Đồng Nai and Bình Dương are waiting for the Ministry of Health to allocate further vaccines.

Although HCM City received  五 四, 七00 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine on September  一 九 and  五00,000 doses of Vero Cell vaccine on September  一 八, the city still lacks more than  一. 九 million of doses for use in the next  一0 days, according to the city Department of Health.  

Nearly  五 一 五,000 people need the first shot and  一. 七 八 million people need the second shot by September  三0.

Gò Vấp District, for instance, has nearly  一 四 二,000 people who need the second shot of AstraZeneca vaccine. 

According to District  八, it temporarily stopped vaccination for locals on September  一 九 because the vaccines ran out. During the afternoon on that day, it received an additional  三,000 doses of Pfizer and  四,000 doses of AstraZeneca.

The doses are only enough for Monday. It will continue to wait for the next provision from the city Centre for Diseases Control and Prevention (HCDC).  

Vaccinations in District  四 were suspended on Sunday because of a shortage of vaccines. On the same day, it received an additional  二,000 doses of AstraZeneca. However, they were used for only one day.

Dr Trần Văn Khanh, head of Lê Văn Thịnh Hospital, told Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) newspaper, said the hospital was allocated an additional  三, 二00 doses of Pfizer vaccine in September. This amount was only enough to vaccinate women who have been pregnant for more than  一 三 weeks and who breastfeed their children.

The hospital is asking for an additional  三,000 doses to give the second vaccine dose to people with underlying medical conditions such as diabetes.   

According to HCDC, more than  九0 per cent of people aged  一 八 and over in the city have received the first shot and more than  二0 per cent the second shot.

Like HCM City, the neighbouring provinces of Đồng Nai and Bình Dương are waiting for the Ministry of Health to allocate more vaccines.

According to the Đồng Nai Province Department of Health, the province is waiting for  五00,000 doses of Vero Cell vaccine from the Ministry of Health to give to locals without the first shot.

It has only around  二 四,000 doses left for pregnant women. More than  一. 七 million of its are vaccinated, including  九 八, 二 三 四 with the second shot.

The Bình Dương Province's Department of Health said it needs an additional  二. 七 million of doses for people getting the second shot and those aged  一 二- 一 八.

As of September  一 八, the province had received more than  二. 二 million doses.

According to the Ministry of Health, more vaccines will be sent to the country by the end of this month. The ministry will allocate these to HCM City and provinces as soon as possible.

In October, more AstraZeneca vaccines and  一0 million Pfizer doses are expected to be sent to the country under the ministry’s purchase contracts. — VNS