Japan to gift Vietnam 500,000 more vaccine doses

By Vu Hoang October 16, 2021 | 01:08 am PT

A man gets Covid-19 vaccine in Go Vap District in HCMC, August 14, 2021. Photo By VnExpress/Quynh Tran

Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu has announced aid of 500,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses to Vietnam, with the hope both nations would overcome the pandemic together.

These vaccines will be delivered to Vietnam as soon as the preparation process is completed, Minister Motegi said Friday, raising the total number of vaccines that Japan has donated to Vietnam to 4.08 million doses, of which most are AstraZeneca vaccines, according to a statement by the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam.

"We hope to contribute to bringing vaccines to all Vietnamese people and furthering the efforts of the Covax facility. Japan will continue to expand its support to Vietnam in its vaccine efforts to prevent Covid-19 as quickly as possible," said Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Takio Yamada.

Japan is one of the biggest vaccine benefactors of Vietnam. Most recently, a flight from Japan carrying about 400,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines had landed at Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat International Airport on Sept. 25.

On Oct.1, 300 vaccine storage refrigerators funded by the Japanese government were also handed to Vietnam via UNICEF.

Over 59 million of Vietnam's 96-million population have been vaccinated, with more than 17.1 million receiving two doses.