Vaccine containers at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on July 7 morning. (Photo from the Ministry of Health) Truong Quoc Cuong, Deputy Health Minister ofVietnam, Christopher Klein, Chargé d'Affaires of the US Embassy in Hanoi,and John Paul Pullicino, Country Manager and Chief Representative at PfizerVietnam, were at the airport to receive the first vaccine batch.
The first batch is part of a 31 million dose contract that the Ministry ofHealth has signed to purchase the vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech.
Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Health Minister Cuong said that from last September,when Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was in the third phase of human trials,the Ministry of Health (MoH) and Pfizer had started talks to supply Vietnam.
After more than 20 meetings over the past 10months, the two sides reached the agreement on vaccine supply on June 7, 2021,he said.
The MoH thanked Pfizer for providing training and guidance to readily receiveand use its COVID-19 vaccine, he added.
He urged Pfizer to ensure its delivery schedule of 31 million doses within thisyear, and consider supplying another 20 million doses as well as thepossibility of vaccine production technology transfer in the future.
Klein stressed that the delivery is a signal of hope, thatworking together can overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, protect the economyand bring people’s lives back to normal.
According to the diplomat, the US’ top priority at the moment is fighting thepandemic, so the US has committed billions of US dollars to the COVAX Facilityand millions of vaccine doses to many countries.
He affirmed that 2 million doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccines as a donationfrom the US Government will arrive in Vietnam soon.
Meanwhile, Pullicino said this batch of vaccine marks an important step in theprocess of supplying 31 million doses of Pfizer vaccine to Vietnam.
Pfizer believes in its ability to meet and provide safe Pfizer vaccines forVietnam, he added.
As scheduled, more batches of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine will be handed over toVietnam in July.
The US will send 2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines produced by Moderna to Vietnam this week (Photo: AFP/VNA) At a press conference on June 7 (Vietnam time), White House press secretary JenPsaki stated that the US will send 2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccinesproduced by Moderna to Vietnam this week.
Previously, at his phone talks between Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui ThanhSon on May 28, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US will continueto support Vietnam and other countries in accessing vaccines through the COVAXprogramme, including 80 million doses of vaccinea that the US will provide tothe world./.
VNA
