A shipment of the Vero Cell Covid vaccine doses is loaded onto a Vietnam Airlines plane at the Beijing airport in China for delivery to Vietnam – PHOTO: NDLO

HCMC – Around 17 tons of China’s Vero Cell Covid-19 vaccine, equivalent to one million doses, arrived at the HCMC-based Tan Son Nhat International Airport from Beijing this morning, August 18.

These doses are part of a shipment of nearly 20 tons of the Covid vaccine and medical supplies that was transported by a charter flight operated by the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, reported Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper.

Upon arrival at the airport, the shipment is to be stored at the airport’s warehouse before being handed over to HCMC.

Earlier, another charter flight operated by Vietnam Airlines transported one million doses of the Chinese-made vaccine to HCMC on August 14.

The next two batches of the vaccine are expected to be shipped to the city on August 22 and 26.

These vaccine doses are part of the five million doses that the Ministry of Health allowed the Saigon Pharmaceutical Company or Sapharco to import with the sponsorship of HCMC-based Van Thinh Phat Group.