Vietnam prepares super-cold storage for Covid-19 vaccines
By Ngoc An February 22, 2021 | 01:31 pm GMT+7
Three freezer units have been set up in HCMC, Da Nang and Hanoi to simultaneously store three million doses of Covid-19 vaccines.
Vietnam Vaccine JSC (VNVC), importer of Covid-19 vaccines to Vietnam, was licensed in January to operate three super cold facilities to store Covid-19 vaccines at temperatures ranging from minus 86 to minus 46 degrees Celcius.
Each freezer has a defrosting room with temperatures kept at minus 8 degrees Celsius to ensure vaccines are safely thawed prior to usage.
Tran Thi Trung Trinh, quality control director at VNVC, said in mid-2020 it had imported equipment and built an ultra-cold chain storage system to prepare for Covid-19 vaccine imports to Vietnam.
07:16 | 08/02/2021
VGP - Viet Nam confirmed 181 local infection cases and four imported cases while 11 patients were discharged from hospitals from February 1-7.
As of late February 7, the national patient tally touched 2,001, including 1,111 locally transmitted cases.
Of the tally, 418 cases have been reported in 12 localities since the third wave of loca transmissions on January 27, namely Hai Duong (309 cases), Quang Ninh (47 cases), Ha Noi (23 cases), Gia Lai (19 cases), HCMC (six cases including four new ones which were confirmed on early February 8), Binh Dong (six cases), Bac Ninh (four cases), Dien Bien (three cases), Hoa Binh (two cases), Hai Phong (one case), Bac Giang (one case), and Ha Giang (one case).
The Health Ministry has approved the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine following primary analysis of Phase III clinical trials from the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa.
The trials confirmed that it is safe and effective at preventing Covid-19, with no severe cases and no hospitalisations, more than 22 days after the first dose, according to a press release from AstraZeneca Vietnam.
AstraZeneca Vietnam and the Vietnam Vaccine Joint Stock Company (VNVC) will work together to supply 30 million doses in the country, starting mid-year.
A representative from VNVC said that the company has completed negotiations on the deal with AstraZeneca – a global biopharmaceutical business from the UK.
epidemiological survey on Thalassemia, and ensured blood reserves amidst the COVID-19
pandemic, the article said.
It cited statistics by Globocan 2020 as saying that
Vietnam registered 182,563 new cases of cancer and 122,690 cancer deaths
last year, with blood cancer making up 3.4 percent of the new cases.
The field of genetics - molecular biology also
achieved positive results in the study of genetic mutations in
blood cancer,
contributing to improving treatment quality and diagnosis of hereditary blood disorders.
The article also lauded the National Institute of
Hematology and Blood Transfusion’s efforts in blood collection through
campaigns amidst the spread of the pandemic.
Vietnam prioritizes Covid-19 vaccines for medics, diplomats
By Hoang Thuy, Viet Tuan February 2, 2021 | 09:01 pm GMT+7
A nurse prepares a shot of Vietnamese Covid-19 vaccine candidate Nanocovax during human trials in Hanoi, December 17, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy.
Doctors and other staff in frequent contact with Covid-19 patients or suspected infectees will be among the first to be vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Other people on the priority list will be the elderly and those with chronic diseases that make them more vulnerable if they get infected, and officials in the diplomatic service, officials said at a government news briefing Tuesday.