Italy, Romania to give Vietnam 1.1 mln AstraZeneca Covid vaccines

Italy will give around 801,600 doses of them through global vaccine access mechanism Covax in September, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Romanian ambassador to Vietnam, Cristina Romila, symbolically handed over 300,000 doses to Vietnam at a ceremony Wednesday to Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan.

Deputy Foreign Minister To Anh Dung said Romania was one of the first EU countries to donate Covid-19 vaccines to Vietnam, and requested the country to give as many more as it could spare.

Romila said Vietnam was the first Asian country Romania aided with Covid-19 vaccines and would continue to stand with it in the fight against Covid-19.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had written to his Italian counterpart, Mario Draghi, requesting Covid vaccine support.

Italy is the second largest donor in the EU to the Covax facility, having promised to give 15 million doses and $359 million in cash. It has also promised $2 million for the ASEAN Covid-19 response fund.

Vietnam has so far vaccinated over 18 million people with over two million getting two shots.

It aims to vaccinate 70 percent of its 96 million population by next year.