Việt Nam surpasses 180 million COVID-19 vaccine shots administered

Health workers in the northern province of Quảng Ninh vaccinating a disabled person. — VNA/VnExpress News Photo 

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s total administered COVID-19 vaccinations surpassed 180 million doses on Friday, according to the National Portal for COVID-19 Vaccines, ten days after hitting 170 million mark.

In the past ten days, about 10 million doses have been administered, a daily average of one million shots.

So far, 163,453,474 shots have been given to adults (people aged 18 years and above), of which; 70,577,320 were first doses, 67,607,576 were second does, 9,442,342 were additional doses and 15,826,236 were booster doses.

Most provinces and cities in the country (49 out of 63) have more than 90 per cent vaccine coverage among the adult population. The remaining 14 provinces – Thanh Hóa, Phú Thọ, Vĩnh phúc, Hải Dương, Hòa Bình, Cao Bằng, Điện Biên, Bình Định, Phú Yên, Kon Tum, Tây Ninh, Trà Vinh, Bình Dương, and Sơn La – range between 80-90 per cent.

Over 16 million doses have been given to children aged 12-17 years, including 8,410,398 first doses and 7,729,798 second doses.

Just over half, 34 out of 63, provinces and cities have vaccinated more than 90 per cent of the population in this age group.

Another 16 localities boast coverage between 80-90 per cent, while 13 out of 63 provinces and cities have vaccinated up to 80 per cent. They are Bắc Kạn, Hà Giang, Sơn La, Điện Biên, Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị, Bình Định, Bình Thuận, Gia Lai, Đắk Lắk, Đồng Nai, Đồng Tháp and Bình Dương.

The country is aiming to administer booster shots to all adults within the first quarter of the year, especially for the vaccination-eligible elderly, people with underlying conditions, frontline workers, and workers in industrial zones.

The health ministry has submitted to the Government a plan on buying 21.9 million paediatric doses of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines to be used for children aged 5-11 years, but the Government has not yet given its decision yet. — VnExpress News