Vietnam May not to Be Affected by EU’s Possible Vaccine Export Limits: Diplomat

Vietnam’s reception of the UK/Sweden AstraZeneca coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines from the COVAX program will not be affected by the EU’s possible AstraZeneca vaccine export limits, EU Ambassador to Vietnam Giorgio Aliberti affirmed at a press conference in Hanoi on March 23. The EU Ambassador made the statement as the EU has threatened to limit exports of coronavirus vaccines to other countries to ensure vaccine supplies for its member countries. The EU diplomat added that the vaccine export limits will be for countries outside the COVAX program and Vietnam has become one of 92 countries to receive COVID-19 vaccines from the program. In reply to concerns over AstraZeneca vaccine’s side effects, Ambassador Giorgio Aliberti affirmed the safety of the vaccine following recent investigations. German Ambassador to Vietnam Guido Hildne highlighted the importance of close health supervisions for vaccinated people. The diplomat also revealed that the kind of vaccine distributed to Vietnam for free under the COVAX program has also currently been used in the EU. The EU has so far contributed $2.62 billion to the COVAX program, making up 41.5% of the mechanism’s total budget. Vietnam is expected to receive 4.17 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine out of the total 30 million doses from the COVAX program, becoming one of the three first vaccine recipients in the Southeast Asian region from the United Nations (UN)-backed mechanism. Professor Dang Duc Anh, director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) has announced that AstraZeneca vaccine doses from the COVAX program may arrive in Vietnam later than expected due to the firm’s vaccine production problems. (Tuoi Tre, Tuoi Tre, en.Vietnam Plus)