U.S. delivers three more million doses of Moderna vaccine to Viet Nam

Half of the three million doses arrived in Ho Chi Minh City and half will arrive in Ha Noi later today.  This delivery follows on the July 10 donation of two million Moderna mRNA vaccine doses that the U.S. donated to Viet Nam through the COVAX Facility. 

Remarking on the arrival of the vaccines to Viet Nam, U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., Christopher Klein, said “We are here to help Viet Nam at this difficult time, and our total donation of five million doses of Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccine is proof of this support.  We will get through this pandemic and emerge stronger together.” 

U.S. Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Marie Damour added, “We are proud to be able to assist Viet Nam with more U.S. vaccines, especially with the delivery of nearly 1.5 million of the total doses directly to Ho Chi Minh City, the current epicenter of Viet Nam’s fast-growing outbreak.”

In addition to the five million Moderna vaccine doses the U.S. donated through the COVAX Facility, Viet Nam has received 2,493,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine via the COVAX Facility.  The COVAX Facility is co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovations (CEPI), GAVI - the Vaccine Alliance, World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF as key delivery partners.

President Biden also recently announced that the U.S. would provide 500 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines to Gavi for distribution by COVAX to 92 low- and lower middle-income countries and economies as defined by Gavi’s COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), which includes Viet Nam, and the African Union.

So far, Viet Nam has received 14 million vaccine doses from various supply sources, the Ministry of Health said on Saturday.

As of July 24, as many as 4,478,757 doses have been administered, with 353,601 people fully vaccinated./.

By Quang Minh