- To date, Vietnam has received nearly 7.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX Facility
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Vietnam has received more than three million doses of the Moderna vaccine donated through the COVAX Facility by the US Government, UNICEF have announced.
Nearly 1.5 million doses arrived in HCM City on Saturday night while the rest touched down in Hanoi on today morning.
This is the second batch of Moderna vaccines to arrive in the country this month, bringing the total donation from the United States Government to Việt Nam to more than five million doses.
The donated vaccines are provided through the COVAX dose-sharing mechanism, which allows well-supplied countries to share vaccine doses with other countries to help protect the most at-risk populations globally.
UNICEF Vietnam Acting Representative Lesley Miller said: “These vaccines arrive at a critical time for Việt Nam as the country experiences its fourth and most devastating wave of COVID-19.
“The doses donated by the US Government through COVAX will boost Việt Nam’s vaccination campaign to protect health staff, frontline workers, the elderly and other priority groups defined by the Government.
“We sincerely thank the United States Government, COVAX Facility and partners for your support to deliver these COVID-19 vaccine doses in time amid the 4th wave of COVID-19 in Vietnam.”
To date, Vietnam has received nearly 7.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in four shipments through the COVAX Facility, including over five million doses of the Moderna vaccine from the US Government and nearly 2.5 million doses of AstraZeneca.
Since the arrival of the first shipment of vaccines from the COVAX Facility in early April, close to 4.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Vietnam, among them 353,601 second doses.
The additional vaccines will help the Ministry of Health to expand coverage and reach more people from priority groups, contributing to attaining the country’s target of vaccinating more than 70 per cent of population by the end of the first quarter of 2022.
The COVAX Facility is co-led by the World Health Organisation (WHO), Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovations (CEPI), GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, and UNICEF as the key delivery partner.
By Vietnamnews