Limited COVID-19 vaccines not due to lack of budget, but supply constraints: Deputy PM

HÀ NỘI — Deputy Prime Minister Vũ Đức Đam on Friday met with business associations to discuss access to COVID- 一 九 vaccines and donations to the national fund.

Đam, who is head of the National Steering Co妹妹ittee for COVID- 一 九 Prevention and Control, thanked the business co妹妹unity in Việt Nam for helping overcome the challenges caused by the pandemic to contribute to Việt Nam’s positive growth economic growth last year.

The Government sees the vaccine as the critical tool to contain the pandemic, and welcomes the business co妹妹unity to help bring vaccines to Việt Nam as early as possible and vaccinate as many people as possible to achieve herd i妹妹unity and return to normal life, he said.

Deputy PM Đam said the limited amount of vaccines to have arrived in Việt Nam so far (about  三 million doses of AstraZeneca from COVAX and the order from the manufacturer) is not due to a lack of State funds, but because of global supply constraints, and the Government would appreciate it if the public and business co妹妹unity could help with vaccine access and contributions to the fight against the pandemic.

Setting up the national COVID- 一 九 fund aims to ensure a sustainable source of finance for the administration of COVID- 一 九 vaccines in Việt Nam.

Đam said it’s understandable that many business associations – including foreign ones – have asked the Government to give vaccine priority to their staff and workers.

However, he said that “we could not just deprive the higher-risk people of getting vaccines because businesses make donations to the vaccine fund,” stressing the first to receive the jabs would be in line with Government’s Resolution  二 一 on priority groups and UN fair vaccine access principle.

Priority groups include front-liners like healthcare workers, staff at quarantine sites, contact tracers, military and public security forces; Vietnamese diplomats, customs and i妹妹igration officers; essential service workers in sectors like aviation, transport, tourism, utility; teachers and those who work at education and training facilities, those who work at State agencies and have regular contact with various people; people with chronic illnesses, people aged above  六 五; residents in pandemic-hit areas; and poor people and policy beneficiaries.

However, following large clusters of infections found in the northern provinces of Bắc Giang and Bắc Ninh with large industrial bases including many foreign businesses like Samsung and Canon, the health ministry has revised the guidelines to include workers in factories and construction sites in the priority groups as well.

For the time being, Deputy PM Đam asked businesses to comply with the health ministry’s guidelines on COVID- 一 九 prevention and control measures and to regularly assess COVID- 一 九 safety in the workplace.

On behalf of the business co妹妹unity, Chairman of Việt Nam Chamber of Co妹妹erce and Industry Vũ Tiến Lộc said the business co妹妹unity would contribute to the national COVID- 一 九 fund to buy, import and develop vaccines together with resources from the State budget.

As of June  二,  一, 一 一0, 一 一 一 doses of COVID- 一 九 vaccines had been administered in Việt Nam, mostly for frontline workers, and  三 一, 一 七 七 people have received the full two-dose regime, according to the National Expanded Progra妹妹e on I妹妹unisation.

Việt Nam has negotiated for the delivery of a total of of vaccines from different manufacturers, with delivery expected in the last two quarters of the year. — VNS