US hands over 36 ultra-cool freezers to store Covid-19 vaccines

By Minh Nga October 12, 2021 | 05:00 pm PT

The Chargé d'Affaires of the U.S. Embassy Hanoi, Christopher Klein, talks with Dang Duc Anh, Director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) next to vaccine freezers provided by the U.S., October 12, 2021. Photo by the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam

The U.S. delivered 36 ultra-low temperature freezers Tuesday to the Ministry of Health at the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) in Hanoi.

The freezers are the first of 111 ultra-low temperature, medical-grade storage units worth approximately $1 million that the U.S. Department of Defense is providing to Vietnam, the U.S. Embassy said in a statement.

With a capacity of minus 40 degrees Celsius to minus 90 degrees Celsius, the freezers can store vaccines that require extremely cold temperatures, including the Pfizer vaccine, which must be stored at minus 70-80 degrees Celsius.

Of the 77 freezers originally offered to Vietnam, 14 will remain at the NIHE for national-level distribution and 63 sent to regional distribution centers throughout the country. An additional 34 units have been requested by the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City.

The U.S., the world's largest donator of Covid vaccines, has gifted 9 million doses to Vietnam so far.

Over 55.2 million people in Vietnam have received at least one Covid-19 vaccine shot to date and more than 16 million people have been fully vaccinated.