Australia assists Vietnam with $30 mln, 1.5 mln Covid-19 vaccine doses

Dan Tehan, Australia’s Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, said Tuesday during a meeting with Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh in Hanoi.

Tehan said the gift of 1.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine was a marker of the good relationship between the two nations.

He said Australia is committed to further cooperation with Vietnam in the fight against Covid-19.

In April, Australia and the United Nations Children's Fund had supported Vietnam with AUD$13.5 million to implement a Covid-19 vaccination program.

The support package was to help Vietnam buy cold chain equipment to store and transport vaccines; organize training courses and provide materials on vaccination for medical staff. It also supported the development of vaccination plans in remote and isolated areas of Vietnam.

Also Tuesday, the Health Ministry announced that Japan will donate another one million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.

Japan has already gifted Vietnam more than two million doses of the vaccine, which were delivered to Vietnam in three batches on June 16, July 2 and July 9.

Vietnam has got six million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine so far via commercial contracts signed by the Vietnam Vaccine JSC (VNVC) and the Covax facility.

The nation also has two million doses of the Moderna vaccine donated by the U.S. via Covax, 1,000 Sputnik doses given by Russia and 500,000 Sinopharm doses gifted by China.

More than 97,000 doses of the U.S.'s Pfizer vaccine has also arrived in Vietnam as part of a purchase contract for 31 million doses.

Vietnam has targeted vaccinating 70 percent of its 96-million population by next April, with half of those aged 18 and older inoculated within this year.