The AstraZeneca batch from Japan arrived in thermal shipping containers at Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport in HCM City early Saturday morning. — Photo courtesy of the Japanese Embassy in Việt Nam

HÀ NỘI — A total of 3.1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine donated by the US and Japan reached Việt Nam in the past few days.

The US Mission to Việt Nam announced two shipments of 2,633,670 million doses of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to Việt Nam made available via COVAX, with 1,317,420 doses arriving at Nội Bài International Airport in Hà Nội late Sunday and another 1,316,250 doses touching down at Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport in HCM City early Monday morning.

The delivery brought the country’s donation through COVAX to Việt Nam to over 12.1 million doses (5 million doses of Moderna and the remainder Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines), making the US the biggest vaccine donor to Việt Nam so far.

"Continuing to build on our longstanding cooperation and investment in Việt Nam's health infrastructure, we have provided support to essentially every pillar of the country’s pandemic response," the US Embassy said in a statement on Monday.

"From virtual trainings that have reached thousands of hospital workers in the Mekong provinces with skills to protect themselves from infection, to genetic sequencing technology that allows Việt Namto track variants of the virus that are circulating, to information systems that guide rapid vaccine delivery to provinces to reach those at highest risk; from supplying COVID-19 test and vaccine storage equipment to bolstering Việt Nam's COVID-19 care systems, especially in HCM City and neighbouring hard-hit provinces, by providing life-saving equipment such as ventilators, oxygen concentrators, and liquid-oxygen tanks for patience in need," it added.

"We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Việt Nam in the fight against COVID-19," the statement reads.   

Earlier on Saturday, the Japanese Embassy in Việt Nam said 500,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines have arrived at Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport in HCM City, following the announcement to such effect from the Japanese foreign minister during a press briefing on October 15, bringing the total donation from Japan to 4.08 million doses.

In a related move, AstraZeneca Việt Nam has also donated 386,400 doses of vaccines to Việt Nam on Sunday, according to a health ministry notice.

To date, Việt Nam has administered nearly 73 million doses of vaccines, with about 21 million people receiving two doses. — VNS