This is part of the 80 million doses that US President Joe Biden has committed to supporting the world, and they are the first doses sent to Southeast Asia.

Moderna, also known as Spikevax, was approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on April 30.

Moderna Covid-19 vaccine.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Health granted conditional approval for the vaccine for emergency use in the country in late June.

Under the approval decision, the vaccine comes in doses of 0.5ml of mRNA molecules protected by lipid nanoparticles SM-102. It is supplied in a carton of 10 multiple-dose vials, with each vial containing 10 doses.

This is the fifth vaccine conditionally authorised for emergency use by the ministry, following Oxford/AstraZeneca, Sputnik V, Sinopharm’s Vero-Cell and Pfizer/BioNTech.

As of July 7, Vietnam had administered over 3.96 million Covid-19 vaccine doses.

The country has to date received nearly 5 million doses, including nearly 2.5 million doses committed by COVAX, and 2 million presented by other governments.

National Covid-19 vaccine fund receives over 7.95 trillion VND

The national Covid-19 vaccine fund received over VND7.95 trillion (US$344.5 million) as of June 30 afternoon, its management board said.

Vietnam to receive 1 million more vaccine doses from Japan

One million doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine donated by Japan are expected to be delivered to Vietnam on July 1 and July 8, the Ministry of Health said on June 29.

Prime Minister asks for AstraZeneca’s support in vaccine strategy implementation

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had an emergency meeting with AstraZeneca in Hanoi on June 29, asking the firm to create the best possible conditions to help Vietnam effectively implement the Covid-19 vaccine strategy.

Vietnamese-American professor funded to develop Whitmore's disease vaccine

A group of researchers led by a Vietnamese-American professor has been granted $3 million by the U.S. defence department to create a vaccine against melioidosis.

Vero-Cell Covid-19 vaccine by Sinopharm

A flight transporting 500,000 doses of Vero-Cell vaccine against Covid-19 produced by Sinopharm arrived in Noi Bai airport in Hanoi on June 20.

Source: NDO/VNA