Vietnam has administered 70 million doses of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine, safe and effective

According to information on May 10, the Department of Preventive Medicine said that the AstraZeneca vaccine is one of 14 Covid-19 vaccines licensed for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO) on February 15, 2021, and the European Medicines Agency - EMA licensed for conditional use throughout Europe from January 29, 2021.

WHO recommends emergency use

The vaccine is now one of the most widely used in the world, with more than 170 countries granting emergency use authorization and more than 2 billion doses administered globally.

The AstraZeneca vaccine has been shown in widespread use to be very effective in preventing severe symptoms and reducing deaths from Covid-19. Analysis of data from multiple studies and post-vaccination monitoring shows that the vaccine is safe and effective in all age groups.

Global trials have recorded 74% efficacy of the vaccine against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2, and no cases of severe or critical illness have been reported among those vaccinated.

WHO recommends the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine as safe and effective for everyone aged 18 years and over.

Rare side effects such as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) data from the UK and Europe show that the risk of TTS is estimated at 1 in 100,000 adults vaccinated, occurring between 3-21 days and a small number of cases occurring after 42 days.

Another GAVI statistic shows that the recorded rate in the UK is 4/1,000,000 people (equivalent to 0.4/100,000 people).

Statistical studies show that the rate of thrombocytopenia after vaccination is much lower than the rate of this syndrome after Covid-19 infection. In addition, blood clots can originate from Covid-19 infection, even occurring up to 6 months after Covid-19 infection.

With the very rare incidence of thrombosis and thrombocytopenia, WHO and EMA have both confirmed that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in protecting against Covid-19 far outweigh the risks.

Vietnam has administered 70 million doses of safe and effective vaccines.

Regarding the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Vietnam, the Ministry of Health said that in Vietnam, the AstraZeneca vaccine has been licensed for conditional use since February 1, 2021 to meet urgent needs in the prevention and control of the Covid-19 epidemic. This is the first Covid-19 vaccine imported and deployed for vaccination in Vietnam.

The vaccination process follows a strict procedure developed by the Ministry of Health and continuously updated to ensure safety and effectiveness, including detailed instructions on pre-vaccination screening, vaccination session organization, and post-vaccination reaction monitoring.

The standards for specifying vaccination subjects and injections are also continuously updated according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization and experience from developed countries.

To date, Vietnam has administered more than 266 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to people aged 5 and over, including 70 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine used for first and booster shots for people aged 18 and over.

Based on recommendations from health organizations around the world on the possibility of complications of blood clotting disorders after Covid-19 vaccination, on April 22, 2021, the Ministry of Health issued Guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of thrombocytopenia syndrome and blood clots after Covid-19 vaccination.

As of October 19, 2023, according to the decision of the Ministry of Health, Covid-19 has been transferred from group A to group B according to the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases 2007. This change reflects the adjustment of public health policy in accordance with the current epidemic situation and epidemic prevention and control activities will continue to be carried out according to the new regulations.

Thanks to a widespread and high vaccination campaign, the AstraZeneca vaccine and other Covid-19 vaccines have helped Vietnam effectively control the pandemic, significantly reducing the rate of illness and death due to Covid-19, contributing to bringing life back to normal.

The Ministry of Health recommends that thrombosis associated with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine is a very rare side effect and usually only appears within a short period of time after vaccination.

Since July 2023, Vietnam has used up all of this vaccine, so there is currently no risk of developing TTS after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine. Therefore, for those who have been vaccinated with this vaccine, there is no need to perform a D-dimer test or any blood clotting test because there is no longer a risk of thrombosis and thrombocytopenia in those who have been vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine nearly a year ago.

The Ministry of Health recommends that people need to continuously update information from reliable and official sources to have a more complete view of epidemic prevention and control measures and clearly understand the benefits of vaccination.