Ministry of Health talks about AstraZeneca vaccine

AstraZeneca announces global recall of Covid-19 vaccine

According to VNA, on May 7, pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca announced that it has begun recalling Covid-19 vaccines worldwide because there is currently "a surplus of available modified vaccines" for this disease.

According to AstraZeneca, the company will also withdraw its license to market the Vaxzevria vaccine in Europe.

"As multiple vaccine variants have been developed to protect against variants of the virus that causes Covid-19, there is now a surplus of modified vaccines available," AstraZeneca said in a statement.

According to AstraZeneca, this has led to a decline in demand for Vaxzevria - a vaccine that is no longer produced or marketed.

Currently, AstraZeneca is facing a class action lawsuit, in which the vaccine developed by this British-Swedish joint venture pharmaceutical company in conjunction with Oxford University (UK) is alleged to cause death and serious injury to patients. dozens of users.

Although it denied the allegations, in a legal document submitted to the UK High Court in February, the company admitted that in very rare cases, the vaccine could cause venous thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS).

AstraZeneca also notes that TTS can still occur even without its vaccine or when using other vaccines.

AstraZeneca emphasized the need for expert evidence to determine the cause in each case.

Independent studies show that AstraZeneca's vaccine has been effective in protecting many people during the Covid-19 pandemic, saving more than 6 million lives globally in the first year of deployment.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said the vaccine is safe and effective for everyone aged 18 and over, and that side effects leading to legal action are "very rare".

According to the Telegraph, the decision to recall AstraZeneca's vaccine takes effect from May 7.

AstraZeneca is currently focusing on developing a vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and an obesity treatment drug, after growth slowed due to a decline in sales of COVID-19 treatment products.

Vietnam no longer uses the AstraZeneca vaccine

In response to information from the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca that it is carrying out the process of requesting to withdraw the license for the Covid-19 vaccine in the remaining regions and countries around the world, the Drug Administration of Vietnam, Ministry of Health also said that Vietnam is no longer using this vaccine.

The previously licensed vaccines have expired. After that, AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine will no longer be imported into Vietnam.

Currently, only a few types of vaccines with remaining expiry dates are stored for use in the prevention and control of the Covid-19 epidemic.

At the time of licensing in Vietnam, the Covid-19 vaccine produced by AstraZeneca had been licensed for emergency use in 181 countries and territories.

This is also the type of vaccine that the World Health Organization has put on the emergency use list.

In Vietnam, during the Covid-19 epidemic, in addition to the 30 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine ordered from AstraZeneca, Vietnam also sporadically received the AstraZeneca vaccine through sponsorship programs.

Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Quang Thai, Deputy Head of the Department of Infectious Disease Control, Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, said that AstraZeneca is one of the widely used Covid-19 vaccines in Vietnam.

To date, Vietnam has safely deployed 74.3 million vaccinations nationwide for people aged 18 and older.

The last doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine will be administered in Vietnam before July 2023.

Regarding the information that AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine is accused of causing rare effects that can lead to blood clots, Associate Professor Dr. Pham Quang Thai also emphasized: when bringing AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine to Vietnam, Vaccinating to prevent epidemics, the health sector has been very cautious about the problem of blood clots recorded in Europe.

In fact, as soon as we deploy vaccination, we check, monitor and supervise very closely.

According to experts, the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccine has been proven in pandemic prevention, minimizing deaths and serious complications of the disease and is recognized by the international community.

The Covid-19 vaccine has made an important contribution to bringing the socio-economic life and activities of people in our country in particular and the world in general back to normal sooner.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is no longer effective, so there is no need to worry about side effects

In a related development, as reported: Recently, talking to the press about information that the AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid-19 is being accused of causing rare effects that can lead to blood clots, Associate Professor, Dr. Luong Ngoc Khue, Director of the Department of Medical Examination and Treatment Management (Ministry of Health) said: This is a side effect that Vietnam was also warned about when organizing AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine injection.

"Initially when deploying Covid-19 vaccination, we were very cautious. The Ministry of Health has developed a strict vaccination process. Injectors must have their blood pressure measured, screened before vaccination, and monitored after vaccination at the hospital. injection point.

After that, we also gradually adjust when we monitor that the vaccine does not cause serious health effects.

From the beginning, it was only given at medical facilities, then Covid-19 vaccination activities have been deployed more widely," Associate Professor, Dr. Luong Ngoc Khue said.

The expert also said that most people have been vaccinated with the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, which has been held for several years, and is now no longer effective. Therefore, there is no need to worry too much about side effects leading to blood clotting.

Vietnam has administered more than 266.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine

In Vietnam, during the Covid-19 epidemic, in addition to the 30 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine ordered from AstraZeneca, Vietnam also sporadically received the AstraZeneca vaccine through sponsorship programs.

These vaccines have contributed to the success of the Covid-19 vaccination campaign to prevent the Covid-19 epidemic in 2022.

Hundreds of millions of people have been vaccinated with 2-4 doses of Covid-19 vaccines, including AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna...

By mid-2023, our country has injected more than 266.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine.

Vietnam is one of the countries with the highest Covid-19 vaccine coverage rate in the world, with the basic vaccination rate for people aged 12 and older reaching nearly 100%, and the 4th vaccination rate for people aged 18 and over. Age and older have a high risk of 89.6%.

In early 2024, a representative of the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology also said that Vietnam only has more than 400,000 doses of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine with an expiry date of September 2024.

Covid-19 vaccine is effective in preventing disease and complications caused by Covid-19, reducing the rate of severe illness and death.

According to the latest guidance from the World Health Organization, there are 3 priority subjects for Covid-19 vaccination: elderly people aged 50 years and older with underlying medical conditions (revaccinate at 9-12 months after the first dose). last), followed by pregnant women and people who have not received any vaccinations.

According to the Telegraph, AstraZeneca has admitted for the first time in legal documents submitted to the Supreme Court that their Covid-19 vaccine: "In very rare cases can cause thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS)".