South Korea to donate 1 mln Covid vaccine doses to Vietnam

Park Kyung-mee, spokeswoman for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, said the decision was made by the president during a dialogue with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly's 76th session in New York on Tuesday, Vietnam News Agency reported.

The Covid-19 vaccine doses would be the first South Korea provides to foreign countries, besides its financial contributions to global vaccine access mechanism Covax.

Moon said both Vietnam and South Korea have strived to combat the disease from the beginning and shared relevant medical equipment, and requested Vietnam to help protect and maintain the safety of South Koreans and related businesses amid the pandemic.

Both leaders also agreed to strengthen bilateral relations ahead of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties next year.

Vietnam has immunized over 35 million people with at least one Covid-19 vaccine shot. Over 6.7 million people have been fully inoculated.

The country aims to secure 150 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to cover 70 percent of its population by next year.