US Vice President Kamala Harris in front of the US-donated Pfizer vaccine batches that arrived in Hà Nội on Thursday. — Photo courtesy of the US Embassy in Hà Nội

HÀ NỘI —  750,000 doses of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines have arrived in Việt Nam following the announcement of US Vice President Kamala Harris for one million more vaccine doses as a donation from the US Government.

On Thursday afternoon, Harris visited the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Hà Nội where the Director, Professor Đặng Đức Anh, provided a guided tour of the ultra-low temperature facility where the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is stored, according to the US Embassy in Hà Nội.

She was on a visit to Việt Nam from August 24-26 at the invitation of Vietnamese counterpart Võ Thị Ánh Xuân.

Late Wednesday, 533,520 doses arrived in HCM City and 263,250 doses arrived in Hà Nội, and the remaining 269,100 doses are expected in Hà Nội on Friday. 

“The American people are so pleased to provide these 1 million+ vaccines to the people of Việt Nam, with no strings attached, in close partnership with COVAX,” the US Embassy noted.

US VP Kamala Harris has remarked that the US is grateful for Việt Nam’s donation of masks and PPE to the US during the early days of the pandemic when there was a critical shortage across the globe, and now it’s time for the US to help Việt Nam with the current surge of coronavirus in the country.

Previously, the US has donated 5 million doses of Moderna vaccines to Việt Nam via COVAX Facility.

The US is also expected to deliver 77 ultra-low temperature units (-70°C) at a total value of US$691,000 to Việt Nam to help with vaccine storage and distribution, which will be brought to the country by 36th Contracting Squadron at Andersen Air Force Base.

The purchase of the freezers fulfils an official request from the Government of Việt Nam and the Vietnamese Ministry of Health to the US due to their acquisition of 31 million Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccines set to be delivered throughout 2021.

This assistance will provide one unit to each of the 63 provinces in Việt Nam and 14 larger units at the national level for COVID-19 vaccine storage.

This acquisition shows the commitment of the US to the health and safety of Vietnamese by providing humanitarian relief to them during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Staff Sgt. Christian Luevano, 36th Contracting Squadron contracting officer.

Việt Nam has administered 18.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to date, mostly AstraZeneca. — VNS