An elderly woman receives a COVID-19 vaccine shot at the Textile Hospital in Hà Nội. — VNA/VNS Photo Trần Việt

HÀ NỘI —  Germany has decided to donate 2.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Việt Nam to aid the country's COVID-19 fight, according to the Vietnamese foreign ministry.

Previously, Germany said it would send medical supplies comprising 75 ventilators, 15 patient monitors and 20,000 oxygen meters.

“This is valuable and timely help, showcasing the German Government and people’s spirit of solidarity towards Việt Nam during its challenging time, and a vivid testament to the Việt Nam-Germany Strategic Partnership at its 10th anniversary,” the foreign ministry said on Saturday.

Germany’s donation is the biggest among the European Union countries to Việt Nam, after Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính sent a letter and held phone calls with German Chancellor Angela Merkel regarding vaccine support.

Việt Nam is battling a severe fourth wave of infections, with the large majority of nearly 500,000 caseload and over 11,000 deaths occurring in the outbreak since late April this year.

Việt Nam, with a population of 100 million, has received just over 30 million doses of vaccines of COVID-19 through donations and purchase deals. Over 21 million jabs have been administered so far.

Since late August, Germany has started to share its surplus vaccine supply and medical supplies to partners after reaching its goal of domestic vaccination.

The country is to donate 30 million doses of vaccines to developing countries in 2021.

Test kits arrive

The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines also delivered 180,000 COVID-19 test kits from Germany to Việt Nam on Saturday.

It was the third batch out of 1 million test kits donated by authorities and people of 16 German states to the Vietnamese Government to fight the pandemic.

Weighing nearly 3.5 tonnes, the batch worth nearly 615,000 euros arrived on a direct flight between Frankfurt and Cam Ranh international airport in the central province of Khánh Hoà.

The shipment will be taken to the Pasteur Institute of Nha Trang on behalf of the Health Ministry.

The carrier has so far transported over 573,000 test kits worth some 1.7 million euros presented by Germany to Việt Nam.

The programme was launched by the World University Service of Germany under the initiative of Vietnam Airlines. The service is a major and long-term partner of Vietnam Airlines in the exchange of students and professors between Vietnamese and German universities. — VNS