The vaccine batches donated by Germany, delivered via COVAX, arrived at the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Hà Nội for storage before allocation. — Photo courtesy of the Germany Embassy in Việt Nam

HÀ NỘI — A batch of 852,480 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine donated by Germany to Việt Nam arrived in Hà Nội on Thursday.

This is part of the European country’s commitment for 2.5 million doses as assistance towards Việt Nam’s vaccination campaign.

The donation is supplied via COVAX Facility in close cooperation with UNICEF and WHO Việt Nam and the Government of Việt Nam.

“I am very happy about this delivery of German vaccines via COVAX. Germany stands with Việt Nam in fighting and overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic. We can only defeat the pandemic if it is brought under control everywhere. Therefore, Germany and the European Union support the COVAX vaccination campaign for fair and transparent access to COVID-19 vaccines worldwide,” German Ambassador to Việt Nam Guido Hildner said in a statement on the occasion.

Kidong Park, United Nations Resident Coordinator ad interim and the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Việt Nam, said: “On behalf of the UN Family, we thank the Government and people of Germany for sharing with the Vietnamese people these life-saving vaccine doses sent through the COVAX Facility.

“Given the challenging pandemic situation in the country now, we continue to advocate for the Government to prioritise vaccination of health care workers and frontline workers, the elderly, people with co-morbidities and those who are at highest risk of severe diseases or deaths.”

With the latest vaccine shipment, Việt Nam has received 12,578,110 doses of COVID-19 vaccines via the COVAX Facility (out of the initiative’s 30-million-dose commitment in 2021).

The COVAX Facility is co-led by WHO, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovations (CEPI), GAVI - the Vaccine Alliance, and UNICEF as a key delivery partner.

Việt Nam on Thursday has administered over 32 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with nearly 6 million people fully vaccinated. — VNS