Vietnam receives over 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Poland

AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine (Photo: Saeed KHAN / AFP)

Hanoi - Vietnam received in Hanoi on August 23 a batch of 501,600 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine donated by the Polish Government.

Polish Ambassador to Vietnam Wojciech Gerwel, on behalf of the Polish Government, handed over the vaccine batch to Deputy Minister of Health Truong Quoc Cuong.

Addressing the handover ceremony, the Polish Ambassador expressed his belief that with the Vietnamese Government’s determination and people’s consensus, Vietnam will soon bring COVID-19 under control.

He recalled that the Vietnamese community in Poland had helped local people battle the COVID-19 outbreaks last year, including offering meal portions to medical workers in the frontline.

Gerwel said the vaccine batch from Poland arrived in Noi Bai Airport of Hanoi on August 21.

Receiving the vaccine, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Health Truong Quoc Cuong expressed his thanks to the Polish government, people and business for their support in medical equipment and pharmaceutical products for Vietnam, especially the COVID-19 vaccine batch this time as the Vietnamese Government and people are exerting efforts to curb the spread of the pandemic.

The ministry will promptly distribute the vaccine batch based on the situation in each locality, he pledged.

Earlier, the Polish government announced its decision to donate more than 501,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Vietnam along with essential medical equipment worth 4 million USD, and its willingness to transfer an additional 3 million doses of vaccines to Vietnam.

It is expected that a shipment of essential medical equipment for COVID-19 prevention and control will be sent to Vietnam in early September.

This is the outcomes of negotiations between the countries’ Governments, Ministries of Foreign Affairs and relevant agencies, as well as the support of the Polish friends.