Japan gifts Vietnam 1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine
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| The NH897 flight departing from Narita airport and carrying nearly 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine arrives at Noi Bai International Airport at 10.00pm on June 16. (Photo: MoH) |
Vietnamese Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long, Vietnamese deputy foreign minister Nguyen Minh Vu, and Japanese ambassador to Vietnam Yamada Takio were at the airport to meet the delivery.
Receiving the consignment at Noi Bai Airport, Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said Vietnam is the first Southeast Asian nation to receive vaccine support from Japan.
“We are happy to receive the vaccine shipment as donation by the Japanese Government”, Long said, adding that this gift is an example of the flourishing relations between Japan and Vietnam, especially amid complicated developments of the pandemic and critical shortages of vaccines on a global scale.
The AstraZeneca vaccines are meant for Ho Chi Minh City to immunize priority groups. "Vietnam is committed to using this batch of vaccines effectively and quickly. On Thursday the vaccines will be transported to HCMC to inject ... especially factory workers", Long added.
Japanese ambassador Yamada Takio said the donation is a testament of the “profound friendship” between Japan and Vietnam, as well as Japan’s wish to connect with the international community, especially with Vietnam, to overcome the pandemic.
The Air Japan flight departed from Narita International Airport in Tokyo at 6:45pm Wednesday, carrying temperature-controlled shipping containers to maintain 2-8 degrees Celsius, the ideal storage condition for AstraZeneca vaccines.
During the meeting with the Japanese ambassador on Tuesday, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính thanked the Japanese Government for the donation following his phone call with Japanese counterpart Suga Yoshihide.
With the new arrivals, Vietnam has around four million doses of vaccines now. As of Thursday around 1.77 million people have got shots, mainly frontline Covid-19 workers, with 72,325 getting two.
