ADB grants Vietnam $600,000 for coronavirus response

The grant, drawn from two ADB Technical Assistance Special Funds, would facilitate the addition of protective equipment worth $500,000 at the National Lung Hospital in Hanoi and a $100,000 gear upgrade at the Public Health Emergency Operation Center (PHEOC) under the Ministry of Health, according to an ADB press release issued Friday.

"We commend the government of Vietnam for its quick and effective emergency response to the Covid-19 pandemic," said ADB Country Director for Vietnam Andrew Jeffries, adding it was among the few countries to have successfully contained the virus.

Vietnam has so far recorded 1,385 Covid-19 cases, 122 still active, most of them imported cases. Thirty-five have succumbed to the disease, many being elderly patients with underlying conditions like diabetes or kidney failure.

The country has gone over a week without fresh community transmissions.

A Vietnamese Covid-19 vaccine named Nanocovax, developed by Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology JSC, commenced human trials Thursday, with a planned national distribution date of May next year, should results prove positive.