An AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine shot is being prepared in a hospital in Vĩnh Phúc Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoàng Hùng

HÀ NỘI — The foreign ministry of Việt Nam said the UK and Czech governments will donate 660,000 doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca to Việt Nam.

On Thursday, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the UK will donate 415,000 doses to Việt Nam, as the country begins to ship their surplus supply to countries across the world.

This is the first tranche of the 100 million vaccines that Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged the UK would share with the world within the next year at last month’s G7 Summit in Cornwall, saying the donation was “to get those most in need in the world vaccinated as a matter of urgency.”

A total of 30 million doses are to be sent by the UK to countries around the world by the end of the year.

“We’re doing this to help the most vulnerable, but also because we know we won’t be safe until everyone is safe,” Raab said.

British Ambassador in Việt Nam, Gareth Ward added: "The UK is committed to supporting Việt Nam to accelerate its national programme vaccination, as well as make the vaccines accessible to the people most vulnerable to the virus.

“These vaccines will soon be handed over to the Vietnamese health authority and distributed to those most in need across Việt Nam. The UK will continue to share our experience in vaccine rollout and genomic testing, to ensure Việt Nam’s programme is successful.” 

The doses to be delivered to Việt Nam in this bilateral agreement have been made by Oxford Biomedica in Oxford and packaged in Wrexham, North Wales, and further doses will reach Việt Nam via UN-managed global vaccine sharing scheme COVAX.

The foreign ministry also said that the Czech Government has announced a donation of 250,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Việt Nam.

A spokesperson for the Ministry said: "This is very timely and valuable support from other countries for the Government and people of Việt Nam as Việt Nam is concentrating resources on COVID-19 prevention and control."

"The support demonstrates the depth of the traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Việt Nam and the Czech Republic and the strategic partnership between Việt Nam and the United Kingdom."  — VNS