PM meets COVAX Facility Managing Director

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh meets with Managing Director of the COVAX Facility Aurélia Nguyen (Photo: VNA)

Paris – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on November 3 (local time) met with Managing Director of the COVAX Facility Aurélia Nguyen, during which he thanked the COVAX programme for its commitment to providing Vietnam with 38.9 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines free of charge in 2021, including nearly 23 million doses delivered to the country.

The PM underlined that with the determination and efforts of the Government and support of international friends, including the important assistance of COVAX and other countries through the programme, as well as high consensus from the community, Vietnam has basically put the pandemic under control.

Vietnam has switched to come up with a strategy for safe and flexible adaption to and effective control of the pandemic, recovery and promotion of socio-economic development, and gradual resumption of economic and tourism activities, he said.

Stressing that Vietnam is in need of more vaccines as soon as possible, the PM proposed that COVAX continue to allocate and transfer the remaining vaccines to Vietnam right in November, and continue allocating more vaccines to Vietnam.

He said that the Vietnamese Government has decided to voluntarily contribute an additional 500,000 USD to COVAX, raising the country’s contribution to 1 million USD, he said.

For her part, Aurélia Nguyen spoke highly Vietnam’s implementation of COVID-19 vaccinations so far, adding that COVAX Facility has decided to allocate additional over 9 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to Vietnam and will deliver them to Vietnam as soon as possible.

She affirmed COVAX will continue to accompany Vietnam in pandemic prevention and control, by providing more vaccines and technical support for vaccination, and boosting coordination in seeking vaccine sources under the cost-sharing mechanism.

Nguyen highly valued and thanked the Vietnamese Government for deciding to make the additional contribution to COVAX Facility, thereby showing the country’s sense of responsibility and international solidarity, especially when Vietnam is a developing country still facing many difficulties.

She underlined that Vietnam’s decision at this time is significant in the context that COVAX Facility is to call on the international community to increase contributions to the programmee in the next few weeks.

She expressed her hope that Vietnam will spread this spirit and call on regional countries, ASEAN member countries as well as partners and businesses to continue to support COVAX efforts.