Vaccine containers at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on July 7 morning. (Photo from the Ministry of Health)Hanoi (VNA) – The first shipment of 97,110 doses of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19
s arrived at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on July 7
morning.
Truong Quoc Cuong, Deputy Health Minister of
Vietnam, Christopher Klein, Chargé d’Affaires of the US Embassy in Hanoi,
and John Paul Pullicino, Country Manager and Chief Representative at Pfizer
Vietnam, were at the airport to receive the first vaccine batch.
The first batch is part of a 31 million dose contract that the Ministry of
Health has signed to purchase the vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech.
Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Health Minister Cuong said that from last September,
when /BioNTech vaccine was in the third phase of human trials,
the Ministry of Health (MoH) and Pfizer had started talks to supply Vietnam.
After more than 20 meetings over the past 10
months, the two sides reached the agreement on vaccine supply on June 7, 2021,
he said.
The MoH thanked Pfizer for providing training and guidance to readily receive
and use its COVID-19 vaccine, he added.
He urged Pfizer to ensure its delivery schedule of 31 million doses within this
year, and consider supplying another 20 million doses as well as the
possibility of vaccine production technology transfer in the future.
Klein stressed that the delivery is a signal of hope, that
working together can overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, protect the economy
and bring people’s lives back to normal.
According to the diplomat, the US’ top priority at the moment is fighting the
pandemic, so the US has committed billions of US dollars to the COVAX Facility
and millions of vaccine doses to many countries.
He affirmed that 2 million doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccines as a donation
from the US Government will arrive in Vietnam soon.
Meanwhile, Pullicino said this batch of vaccine marks an important step in the
process of supplying 31 million doses of Pfizer vaccine to Vietnam.
Pfizer believes in its ability to meet and provide safe Pfizer vaccines for
Vietnam, he added.
As scheduled, more batches of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine will be handed over to
Vietnam in July.
The US will send 2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines produced by to Vietnam this week (Photo: AFP/VNA)
At a press conference on June 7 (Vietnam time), White House press secretary Jen
Psaki stated that the US will send 2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines
produced by Moderna to Vietnam this week.
Previously, at his phone talks between Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh
Son on May 28, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US will continue
to support Vietnam and other countries in accessing vaccines through the COVAX
programme, including 80 million doses of vaccinea that the US will provide to
the world./.
Source: VietnamPlus
