Illustrative photo. (Source: iStock)The freezers were handed over to the Vietnamese Ministry of Health by US Ambassador Marc Knapper in Ho Chi Minh City on March 4.
They are among 111 ultra-low temperature freezers the US Department of Defence is providing to Vietnam with a total value of approximately 1 million USD. They will be sent to HCM City and several southern provinces.
In his remarks at the handover ceremony, Knapper said together with the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the US Department of Defence has stood alongside Vietnamese partners in the battle against COVID-19.
The US donation of the ultra-low temperature freezers today and the previous deliveries of more than 26 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, 100 ventilators and other medical supplies to Vietnam mark an important step forward in the bilateral partnership in healthcare, he said.
With these ultra-low temperature freezers, Vietnam can safely store and distribute mRNA vaccines, he said.
The diplomat stressed that the US is committed to assisting Vietnamese people in combating the COVID-19 pandemic and the US Mission will continue lobbying for the delivery of more COVID-19 vaccines to Vietnam until there are enough vaccines for anyone who wants to be vaccinated.
He expressed his confidence that together both countries will be able to weather the COVID-19 crisis.
Assoc. Prof., Dr. Nguyen Vu Trung, Director of the Pasteur Institute in HCM City, one of the recipients, thanked the US for its timely support, highlighting the importance of the ultra-low temperature freezers in storing and distributing the vaccines.
The freezers will be used by the Pasteur Institute HCM City, Cho Ray Hospital, 176 Military Hospital and CDCs of 20 southern provinces to back the country’s ongoing COVID-19 vaccine rollout./.
VNA
