Australia could donate around 4.7 million doses of Pfizer vaccine and 9 million doses of Moderna vaccine to Vietnam, the Ministry of Health asked the Prime Minister for permission to receive all of these.
Reporting to the Prime Minister on March 26, the Ministry of Health said that the Australian Embassy in Hanoi could donate around 13.7 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to children and was responsible for transporting and paying for the costs of bringing it to the children.
The amount of this vaccine will be divided into two batches. The first phase has 0.7 million doses of Pfizer vaccine and 9 million doses of Moderna vaccine, of which Pfizer batches have expiration dates extended to 31 July, Moderna vaccine batches extended to June and July. Australia has this vaccine available. and can be shipped to Vietnam in early April A second batch of 4 million doses of Pfizer vaccine, with a shelf life of 4-6 months, will be supported by the Australian government through UNICEF, expected to be delivered in April.
The Ministry of Health could launch the vaccination as early as April, according to the report. In addition, the ministry will continue to coordinate with parties to continue to collect vaccine assistance from various sources, then propose to buy more vaccines if there is a shortage.
The Moderna vaccine is being tested on a group of young children, and has not been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for children. According to data released by the company on March 23, two doses of the Moderna vaccine are about 44% effective against Omicron infection in children 6 months to less than 2 years old and about 38% in children 2 to 5 years old.
In May 2021, Moderna published trial data from 3,732 children aged 12-17 who received two doses of the vaccine. As a result, there were no symptomatic Covid-19 cases in this group, and a single dose of the vaccine was 93% effective at preventing symptomatic infection.
Moderna vaccine data in children aged 6-11 years has not been published in detail. Information published by Moderna in October 2021 stated that 4,753 children aged 6 to 11 took part in the trial. These children had the same antibody levels as 18-25 year olds. 99.3% of participants had antibodies after vaccination.
The Ministry of Health has not yet explained the reasons for applying for the Moderna vaccine for children. To date, only Pfizer vaccines have been licensed by countries, including Vietnam, to be given to children aged 5-11, 12-17. In a report sent to the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Health said, “The European Medicines Agency (EMA), Health Canada and Australia recommend the use of the Spikevax (Moderna) vaccine to be given to children aged 6 to 11 years.” . Currently, the Ministry of Health has received a document from Zullig Pharma Vietnam Co., Ltd (importer of Moderna vaccine) regarding the expansion of this vaccine indication for children aged 6-11 years. The Vietnam Drug Administration is consulting with the Licensing Advisory Board to consider licensing in accordance with regulations.
The vaccination policy for children aged 5-11 years has been mentioned by the Prime Minister since the end of December 2021. At the end of January, the Ministry of Health said it had proposed to the Government and approved the policy buy 21.9 million doses pfizer vaccine. In early March, the Ministry of Health said it would sign a contract with Pfizer, but so far it has not done so, repeatedly requested by the Prime Minister. explanation and review.
Vaccine Pfizer injection for children 5-11 years, approved by the Ministry of Health on March 1, each 0.2 ml dose contains 10 mcg of vaccine, this dose is one third of the dose for adults.
On March 23, Deputy Health Minister Do Xuan Tuyen responded to the press, saying that the vaccine was licensed, but the epidemic situation is different from the old plan, the number of children infected with Covid-19 is increasing. Several organizations want to support a vaccine for Vietnam, but have not specified the timing and amount. Meanwhile, vaccines given to children aged 5-11 years cannot be given to other subjects, which can lead to excess or shortage of vaccines; Vaccine purchased will not be transferred, donated or sold. Therefore, the Ministry of Health experienced difficulties which led to delays in purchasing and had to recalculate the number of vaccines needed for children aged 5-11 years.
Vietnam has received more than 227 million doses of the vaccine, injected more than 205 million. In which, more than 99% of people aged over 18 years and 94% of children aged 12-17 years have been vaccinated with two doses of the vaccine. Currently, all countries continue to promote a third injection for 18 year olds and a second dose for 12-17 year olds, completed in the first quarter.
Pfizer vaccine bottles for children. Photo: Bloomberg
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at Blogtuan.info – Source: vnexpress.net – Read the original article here
