Coronavirus: Vietnam approves Sinopharm’s vaccine, but will people take it?

Name: WHO approves Sinovac Biotech’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use
Uploaded: 2021-06-05T04:30:18.000Z
Duration: 1 min 30 s
Description: WHO approves Sinovac Biotech’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use

Only 1 per cent of Vietnam’s population has received at least one vaccine dose, trailing the efforts of poorer neighbours like Cambodia and Laos

The government will have to address anti-Chinese vaccine sentiment and people holding out for other brands as it tries to increase inoculation rate

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A woman walks past a sign bearing Covid-19 prevention advice in Hanoi. Photo: EPA-EFE

Sen Nguyen

Published: 12:30pm, 5 Jun 2021Updated: 8:55am, 7 Jun 2021

Dang Duong, a 42-year-old restaurant owner in Ho Chi Minh City, is hoping everyone in Vietnam will be able to get vaccinated against Covid-19 soon.

Her business has been struggling without its main clientele of foreign residents and tourists since March, when the country shut its borders to keep out imported cases.

While Vietnam has mostly managed to avoid a mass crisis, new outbreaks since April have contributed to more than half its total caseload of over 8,000, and the country is also dealing with limited vaccine supplies and reports of a suspected “hybrid variant” made up of mutations first detected in Britain and India.

But Dang Duong says even as she wants Vietnam to achieve herd immunity, Chinese-made vaccines would be her last option.

“The made-in-China brand in general does not have a good reputation for quality, especially regarding the Covid-19 vaccine,” she said. “China’s behaviour in international politics over the past 10 years and in recent times shows that it is an unlikely partner worthy of trust and respect, which also greatly affects this country’s product brands.”

Vietnam’s inoculation drive currently includes the British-Swedish AstraZeneca shot and Russia’s Sputnik V jab, but with 1 per cent of the 98 million residents vaccinated, it trails the efforts of poorer Asean neighbours such as Cambodia and Laos.

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WHO approves Sinovac Biotech’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use

The government has a deal with Pfizer for 31 million doses to be delivered later this year, and is also in talks with Moderna that would give it enough shots to reach the goal of vaccinating 70 per cent of the population.

Coronavirus: Vietnam approves Sinopharm’s vaccine, but will people take it?

Only 1 per cent of Vietnam’s population has received at least one vaccine dose, trailing the efforts of poorer neighbours like Cambodia and Laos The government will have to address anti-Chinese vaccine sentiment and people holding out for other brands as it tries to increase inoculation rate

Only 1 per cent of Vietnam’s population has received at least one vaccine dose, trailing the efforts of poorer neighbours like Cambodia and Laos

The government will have to address anti-Chinese vaccine sentiment and people holding out for other brands as it tries to increase inoculation rate