Australian Ambassador to Việt Nam Robyn Mudie and Deputy Minister of Health Trương Quốc Cường at the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology's vaccine storage. — Photo courtesy of the Australian embassy

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Health on Wednesday held a symbolic reception ceremony for 300,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and medical equipment donated by the Australian Government that arrived in the country last week.

The medical equipment included 614,000 N95 and surgical masks, and 40,800 gowns.

With the latest donation, Australia has so far delivered more than 700,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Việt Nam as part of its commitment to share 1.5 million doses to support Việt Nam’s pandemic fight.

At the ceremony held at the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Hà Nội, where the vaccines are being stored before allocation to localities, Australian Ambassador to Việt Nam Robyn Mudie said that Australia will increase its support to Việt Nam by assisting it to purchase approximately 3.7 million additional COVID-19 vaccine doses. These vaccine doses will be purchased through a procurement agreement with UNICEF and in partnership with Việt Nam’s Ministry of Health. This will bring Australia’s contribution of vaccine doses to Việt Nam to approximately 5.2 million.

Australia’s commitment to supporting COVID-19 vaccine access in Việt Nam is now worth 60 million AUD.

“As a close friend and partner Australia is committed to supporting Việt Nam in its fight against COVID,” the Ambassador said.

In addition to Australia’s support for vaccine delivery in Việt Nam, Australia is working in partnership with UNICEF to support cold chain upgrades, training for healthcare workers, communications, and planning and implementation of the vaccine rollout in remote provinces in Việt Nam.

Deputy Minister of Health Trương Quốc Cường thanked the Australian Government and people of the help in the COVID-19 fight. He pledged to promptly distribute the vaccines and medical equipment to medical facilities and localities.

The same day, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính has sent a thank-you letter to his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison for Australia’s donations of COVID-19 vaccine and medical equipment to contribute to Việt Nam's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. — VNS