Hanoi, March 8 : Vietnam on Monday kicked-off its mass Covid-19 vaccination campaign, deemed to be largest inoculation drive in the country's history, with over 100 million doses expected to be administered nationwide. According to the Health Ministry, the first dose of the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine was administered at 8 a.m. to health workers directly treating infected patients in the capital Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Hai Duong province, reports Xinhua news agency. In a statement, the Ministry said that vaccination is an important, effective, proactive and indispensable measure in the process of Covid-19 pandemic prevention, and a top priority for the government to help bring lives back to normal. In the coming days, vaccination will commence in other cities and provinces that have been hit by the latest wave of the pandemic. It will target people working on the frontline against the pandemic such as health workers, personnel at quarantine facilities as well as contact-tracing teams, police and national defence forces. Vietnam received the first batch of 117,600 doses of Covid-19 vaccine from the British company on February 24. As of Monday morning, the country has recorded 2,512 coronavirus cases and 35 deaths. /IANS