A mass vaccination drive held at Phú Thọ Indoor Sport Stadium, HCM City, on June 24, 2021, using the AstraZeneca doses donated by Japan. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Japanese foreign minister Motegi Toshimitsu has  announced that Japan would donate another one million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines to Việt Nam.

This comes on top of the previous shipment of nearly one million doses that were delivered to Việt Nam last Wednesday (June 16, 2021).

Arrangements are also being made to send one million doses of AstraZeneca each to Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, the Japanese diplomat noted.

“Japan’s donation of vaccines to Việt Nam is a testament for the profound friendship between the two countries,” the Japanese embassy in Việt Nam said in a statement on Friday regarding the news.

The majority of the donated doses in previous shipment are being administered for priority groups in HCM City in its largest inoculation drive, as the southern economic centre has recorded nearly 2,300 COVID-19 infections since late May, becoming the second most severe COVID-19 hot spot in the country’s fourth wave of infections.

Vaccine delivery to Việt Nam has been very limited, and to date, 2,920,248 million doses of vaccine have been administered in Việt Nam, with only 143,121 people fully vaccinated with two doses.

The decision to provide from July 1 the vaccine developed by Britain's AstraZeneca Plc and produced under license in Japan came after requests were made from the countries, according to Kyodo. — VNS