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HANOI, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam has placed an order to buy some 30 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine made by the British company AstraZeneca, a Vietnamese health official said on Monday, while also seeking to purchase vaccines from other sources.

"We have signed an agreement to guarantee the vaccine for 15 million people, which is equivalent to some 30 million doses," Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Health Truong Quoc Cuong was quoted by Vietnam News Agency as saying at a press briefing on Monday.

Local authorities are also negotiating with other vaccine suppliers including those from China, Russia and the United States, according to Cuong.

Vietnam also expects to purchase COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX Facility, an international initiative co-led by the World Health Organization and partners to ensure equitable global access to vaccines, said the health official.

In mid-December last year, Vietnam started trials of its first homemade COVID-19 vaccine on volunteers, expecting to apply it among the public in May 2021.

As of Monday morning, the country has reported a total of 1,494 cases of COVID-19 infection with 35 deaths from the disease so far, according to its Ministry of Health. Enditem