COVAX Delivers COVID-19 Vaccines to Vietnam as Cases Surge
UNICEF coordinated delivery of more than 5M doses of COVID-19 vaccines donated to Vietnam by the U.S. government through the COVAX Facility in July.
Vietnam welcomed shipments of COVID-19 vaccine doses in July as the highly contagious Delta variant continues to drive a dramatic spike in infections across the country. The doses were donated by the United States government through the COVAX Facility.
Vietnam has received more than 7.4 million COVID-19 vaccine doses through the COVAX Facility to date
On July 24,1,499,960 Moderna vaccine doses arrived in Ho Ci Minh City; 1,500,100 doses reached Hanoi the following day. To date, Vietnam has received 7,493,300 doses of COVID-19 vaccines through COVAX, including 5,00,100 doses of Moderna vaccine donated by the U.S. government and 2,493,200 AstraZeneca vaccine doses.
UNICEF Vietnam Deputy Representative Lesley Miller, far left, joined U.S. Embassy Chargé d'Affaires, a.i., Christopher Klein, Deputy MInister of Foreign Affairs To Anh Dung, Resident Coordinator of the UN in Vietnam Kamal Malhotra and Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan in Hanoi on July 25, 2021 to welcome a delivery of COVID-19 vaccine doses donated by the U.S. government via the COVAX Facility. © UNICEF/UN0493418/Viet Nam\Truong Viet Hung
Vietnam had initial success in curbing the spread of the coronavirus, but the nation has been facing record daily increases since late April. The World Health Organization reported 133,405 confirmed cases and 1,022 deaths through the end of July. Both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are under strict lockdown, and movement is restricted in all of Vietnam's 17 provinces. On July 30, as Vietnam's daily COVID-19 infections hit a record 8,649, the Ministry of Health issued an urgent appeal for private hospitals to admit COVID-19 patients.
The Delta variant is driving Vietnam's worst outbreak yet
Since the arrival of the first shipment of vaccines from the COVAX Facility in early April, close to 4.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Vietnam, including 353,601 second doses. The additional vaccines will help the Ministry of Health to expand coverage and reach more people in priority groups. The country aims to vaccinate more than 70 percent of its population of 98 million by the end of the first quarter of 2022.
An earlier shipment of 2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines donated by the U.S. government arrived in Hanoi on July 10, 2021. © UNICEF/UN0487387/Viet Hung
The COVAX Facility is co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO); the Coalition for Economic Preparedness and Innovations (CEPI) and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, with UNICEF leading on procurement, freight, logistics and storage.
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Top photo: UNICEF Vietnam Deputy Representative Lesley Miller was in Hanoi on July 25, 2021 to meet a shipment of COVID-19 vaccine doses donated by the U.S. government through the COVAX Facility's dose-sharing mechanism. © UNICEF/UN0493414/Viet Nam\Truong Viet Hung
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