From April 9, 2021 to April 12, 2021, FV Hospital implemented a programme to administer the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to 146 doctors and anti-epidemic frontline workers at the hospital. FV Hospital is one of the few private hospitals allocated the AstraZeneca vaccine by the Ministry of Health to protect high-risk staff.
FV Hospital is the first private hospital in Vietnam to be approved by the Ministry of Health to offer Covid-19 testing due to its patient capacity, international-standard facilities, biosafety, human resources, equipment, and ability to isolate and test patients. By offering meticulous screening, patient isolation, sampling and testing, FV Hospital has successfully handled positive Covid-19 cases carefully and correctly. As a result, FV Hospital is ranked among Vietnam’s top anti-epidemic frontline facilities and has been allocated the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine by the Ministry of Health to provide to its employees.
The first shots at FV Hospital have been given to staff working within the hospital’s Covid-19 patient isolation zone, doctors participating in the treatment of isolated patients, emergency staff working on quarantined cases, and those staff members taking samples from suspected Covid-19 cases, as well as the Committee for epidemic prevention.
The first round of FV Hospital’s AstraZeneca vaccination programme occurred over three sessions (April 9, 10 and 21, 2021), with each session limited to 50 people to ensure safety during the monitoring and handling of reactions (if any) following vaccination. The second round of injections for those 146 employees will be given 12 weeks after the first shot, following the recommendations of the vaccine’s producers. All rounds of injections will be administered at FV Hospital according to strict vaccination standards.
FV Hospital offers a dedicated injection area for its staff, and assigns other staff members to monitor them for 30 minutes following vaccination, as well as provide instructions to injected staff regarding possible reactions via QR code. At the same time, vaccination staff can report their condition for the following seven days using software according to the regulations of the Centre of Disease Control of Ho Chi Minh City.
At this moment, among the 146 staff members vaccinated at FV Hospital, no significant reactions have been recorded.
Ms Pham Thi Thanh Mai, Chief Operation Officer of FV Hospital, commented: “FV Hospital is a frontline facility in epidemic control because FV has carried out testing and patient isolation, as well as detected and handled many positive cases safely. Moreover, FV Hospital has also participated in the national’s anti-epidemic effort actively and effectively. Given the limited vaccine sources of the Vietnam government, the fact that FV Hospital has been allocated AstraZeneca by the Ministry of Health for 146 high-risk staff is great encouragement for the hospital to continue efforts in its anti-epidemic frontline role. In addition, this action also helps high-risk medical staff feel assured at work, and reduces the possibility of cross-contamination within the hospital, improving safety around the general activities of the hospital.”
Ms Mai also hopes that in the near future, along with vaccines produced overseas, the Covid-19 vaccine produced by Vietnam will soon officially meet international standards and be added to the country’s expanded vaccination programme. This development will help to ensure all medical staff at Vietnam’s hospitals, especially frontline staff, receive their Covid-19 vaccine promptly.
In recent months, a Covid-19 screening process has been implemented strictly at FV Hospital’s entrances to prevent the spread of the disease since its outbreak. Specifically, patients and their visitors will answer epidemiological screening questions regarding suspected symptoms. Patients with no suspected or epidemiological factors will be granted permission to enter the building for examination and treatment. Other subjects from areas seeing rising cases, who have had contact with a person infected by Covid-19 or have related symptoms will be transferred to screening areas for investigation and testing, isolated in a negative-pressure room. This isolation is applied during wait times for testing results. If the patient is positive with Covid-19, they will be moved to the Tropical Hospital to be treated, following the instruction of the Ministry of Health. FV Hospital has also actively trained its team of staff and doctors so that everyone understands clearly all protocols for isolation and infection prevention. Because of these meticulous processes, there have been no cases of cross-contamination of Covid-19 at FV Hospital.
