JUNE 8: Russia expected to transfer Covid-19 vaccine tech to Vietnam soon

Russia is considering tech transfer of Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine to Vietnam, according to Valentina Matviyenko, Chairwoman of the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian Federation.

Conducting anti-pandemic drills in Hanoi on June 8 ahead of the secondary exam. Photo: Kinh Te Do Thi

The Russian politician said at the phone talk with Vietnamese Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue on June 8.

On the same day, Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long worked with ambassadors of Australia, France, and Switzerland to Vietnam to seek vaccine supply, including the kind for children aged between 12 and 18.

The MoH on May 20 signed a contract to buy 31 million doses of Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 Vaccine which is scheduled to arrive in Vietnam in the third and fourth quarters this year. But delivery time has not yet fixed.

So far, Vietnam has approved three kinds of Covid-19 vaccine namely AstraZeneca (British-Swedish firm), Sputnik V (Russia), and Sinopharm (China).

In another move, more than 170 TCW 4000 AC compression refrigerators, the largest rotomoulded ice lined refrigerator in the world with a net vaccine storage of 240 liters each, arrived in Vietnam on June 8 thanks to the support from the Vaccine Alliance (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization – GAVI) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

UNICEF Representative in Vietnam Rana Flowers said the fund will provide Vietnam with a number of vaccine storage equipment, including over 2,200 fridges, cold storage trucks, and tens of millions of syringes and safety boxes in the coming time.

Vietnam's Covid-19 cases. Source: MoH. Chart: Minh Vu

Regarding the infections, the country’s total caseload hit 9,158 as of June 8, including 6,004 cases were detected over the past month. Its death toll stayed at 55.

Some cities and provinces having high infections include the northern provinces of Bac Giang and Bac Ninh, Ho Chi Minh City, and Hanoi. The confirmed cases in Bac Giang account for one-third of the country’s total figure.

Hanoi, meanwhile, is taking countermeasures to prepare for the secondary school exam with the participation of more than 110,000 seniors. The exam is slated for June 12-13. On June 8, some high schools took drills against the pandemic as part of efforts to ensure safety for the people involved.

In contrast, the central beach city of Danang and the northern province of Quang Ninh decided to open tourism services for local residents after the two localities underwent more than one month without community transmission.