A medical worker shows a woman the Covid-19 vaccine before inoculation. The Ministry of Health has allowed the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in the second injection for those who have been injected with the AstraZeneca vaccine - PHOTO: TNO

HCMC – The Ministry of Health has allowed the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine as the booster jab for those who have been given AstraZeneca as the first shot for eight to 12 weeks and agree on the use.

This is the first time the ministry has allowed the mixture of Covid-19 vaccines. The solution has been applied in many countries, the local media reported.

The decision was included in a plan to distribute 745,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, of which HCMC will receive nearly 55,000 doses, followed by Hanoi with over 38,000 doses and Binh Duong and Dong Nai with over 25,000 doses each.

The vaccine was also provided to the military and police forces and 21 hospitals, institutes and schools under the Ministry of Health. With the vaccine doses distributed to hospitals in HCMC, the city will have more than 105,000 Pfizer doses.

This is the eighth time the Ministry of Health has distributed Covid-19 vaccines for localities. Of the 745,000 Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine doses, Vietnam has been handed over more than 97,000 doses. The remainder, which will be divided into three batches, will arrive in the country this month.

In May, the Ministry of Health signed a contract to buy three million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, which was approved for emergency use on June 12.