Turkey promises Vietnam gift of 200,000 Covid vaccines

By Anh Ngoc October 12, 2021 | 08:06 pm PT

A mobile Covid-19 vaccination station established inside a stadium in Hanoi, September 10, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy

Turkey will donate 200,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines to Vietnam, its vice president, Fuat Oktay, told Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh Tuesday.

Speaking to the Vietnamese PM by telephone, he also promised "several" oxygen generators and other medical equipment for treating Covid-19, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

At the time of going to the press, it was not known which vaccine Turkey planned to provide.

Chinh thanked the Turkish government for the gesture, and said he looked forward to sharing experiences and working closely with Turkey in combating the pandemic and reopening the economy.

Oktay said Turkey is also ready to share with Vietnam the "development results" of its indigenous vaccine, Turkovac, and mutually recognize vaccine passports.

Despite the pandemic, trade between the two countries increased by 26 percent year-on-year in the first eight months of this year to more than $1 million.

Turkey has invested over $700 million in Vietnam.

The government expects to receive 54 million vaccine doses in October from various sources, which will raise the total number so far to 110 million, according to the Ministry of Health.

The country of 96 million has vaccinated around 55.2 million people at least once and fully vaccinated 16 million.