Ambassador Giorgio Aliberti affirms the safety of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at a meeting with the press on March 23. (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA)
– , head of
the EU Delegation to Vietnam, and some ambassadors of on
March 23 affirmed the safety of the .
During
a meeting with the press before the first batch of vaccines arrives in Vietnam via the
WHO-led Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) initiative, Ambassador Aliberti said the EU has put the safety of the vaccine
first.
Regarding the suspension
of AstraZeneca vaccine rollouts by certain
EU countries, the ambassador said the EU’s competent agencies have made efforts
in tracing scientific evidence proving the safety of the vaccine.
The
European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recently allowed to resume the inoculation,
he added.
The
cases of vaccination side effects found in Europe over the past time are very rare,
about only one in one million vaccinated people, according to the ambassador.
Echoing
Aliberti’s view, German Ambassador to Vietnam Guido Hildner said seven out
of 1.7 million vaccinated people in Germany have experienced side effects.
However, the German Government then agreed to resume the vaccination following cautious
assessments.
Vaccinated
people must be under close supervision following the injection, he suggested.
According
to Aliberti, through the “TeamEurope” initiative, the EU has become the
first sponsor that has significantly contributed to the COVAX facility, with funding
of 2.6 billion EUR, making up 40 percent of the programme’s total budget.
Via
COVAX, the EU wants to press ahead with COVID-19 vaccine procurement to vaccinate the
global population, he stressed.
Vietnam
is among the 92 countries selected by the EU to receive the vaccine during the
first phase of the programme, the ambassador said, noting that more than 1.3
million doses of vaccines are scheduled to be delivered to Vietnam in late March
or early April.
COVAX
announced Vietnam will receive from 4,886,400 to 8,253,600 doses, of which
25 – 35 percent will be delivered in the first quarter and the remainder in the
second quarter of 2021. Astra Zeneca vaccine has been selected for the initial
rollout.
The
EU will make its best to soon bring COVID-19 vaccines to Vietnam, Aliberti pledged. Around 18 million doses are expected to arrive in the country by the
end of this year, covering 15 percent of its population, towards the target of vaccinating
20 percent of the population in the first stage.
Ambassadors
from Spain, Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic affirmed their support for
the EU’s efforts to roll out COVID-19 vaccines in countries worldwide,
including Vietnam./.
Source: VietnamPlus
