Two additional people injected with a COVID-19 vaccine developed by British-Swedish company AstraZeneca have experienced severe reactions, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Health.

COVID-19 vaccination in Vietnam began on Monday last week, and by 4:00 pm on Sunday 11,605 people in 12 provinces and cities had received their first jab of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Among 1,400 people vaccinated on Sunday, two exhibited severe reactions. 

The first case suffered dizziness, restlessness, and irritability within 30 minutes after injection.

The second case was diagnosed with grade-III anaphylaxis with initial signs of fever, tremors accompanied by cramping, and hand numbness eight hours after vaccination.

Both cases were noted and handled promptly according to regulations. They are now in stable health. 

They are also the most severe cases of anaphylaxis recorded in Vietnam since the COVID-19 vaccination’s beginning.

Previously, 12 recipients, or 0.7 percent, of 5,300 vaccinated people suffered severe reactions including narrow pulse pressure, swelling at the injection site, difficulty breathing, and hives, according to Preventive Medicine Department vice-director Nguyen Minh Hang.

Despite that, Vietnamese medical authorities have affirmed that the post-coronavirus vaccination reaction rates are normal and “equivalent” to other vaccines already in circulation in the country.

COVID-19 inoculation in Vietnam will go ahead in the northern provinces of Quang Ninh and Dien Bien and the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap this week.

Vietnam will have over 5.6 million more AstraZeneca vaccine shots in March and April.

The country expects to obtain 150 million doses this year, with 60 million already secured from AstraZeneca and the COVAX scheme co-led by the World Health Organization.

The Southeast Asian country received its first COVID-19 vaccine shipment on February 24 – a batch of 117,600 doses of COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford.

Vietnam recorded no new cases of COVID-19 on Monday morning.

The national patient tally stood at 2,554 infections, with 2,086 recoveries and 35 virus-related deaths, according to the Ministry of Health’s data.

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