Minister Nguyen Thanh Long at a meeting with representatives of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on August 4.
The information was revealed during a talk between Vietnamese Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long and representatives of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on August 4.
Long thanked the US Government for giving Vietnam equipment, financial assistance and more than 5 million doses of Moderna vaccine through the Covax Facility.
Long said that the Covid-19 epidemic in Vietnam is still complicated with the fast spread of the Delta variant, so there is a great demand for vaccines.
Vietnam has signed a contract to buy 31 million doses of Pfizer vaccine and is going to buy another 20 million doses. Around 47 million doses are scheduled to arrive in Vietnam in the last quarter of 2021. Long suggested that USAID help speed up the delivery of Pfizer vaccine to Vietnam as soon as possible. He said he hoped that Vietnam could receive shipments of vaccines in August-September to speed up the vaccination rate in Vietnam.
The Minister of Health also asked USAID to request the US government to offer high-tech ventilators to Vietnam to treat severe and critical Covid-19 cases, as well as ultra-cold freezers (-75 degrees Celsius) to store vaccines, and oxygen tanks and auxiliary equipment.
According to USAID, in early September, 77 ultra-cold freezers will be shipped to Vietnam as gifts of the US Government. The US Secretary of Defense mentioned this during his visit to Vietnam in late July.
USAID and CDC representatives said they would lobby the US Government to prioritize vaccine supply for Vietnam.
Regarding the vaccine contract, USAID and the USCDC both said they would try to lobby the US Government to prioritize Pfizer vaccine aid to Vietnam as soon as possible.
Initially, the United States agreed to provide Vietnam with US$ 4.5 million to support vaccination and improve the capacity of the health system to control the Covid-19 epidemic.
Confirming that the Delta variant is difficult to control, the US CDC representative said that it is ready to coordinate with agencies of the Vietnamese Ministry of Health in technical exchange, information sharing and experience.
As of August 4, Vietnam had received more than 17.6 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, of which nearly 7.3 million doses had been administered.
Thuy Hanh
Vietnam among top beneficiaries of US vaccine donations
Vietnam is among the leading seven countries worldwide that have received COVID-19 vaccines donated by the United States.
.svg){kind=icon}
