969,930 doses of COVID-19 vaccines donated by France through the COVAX Facility arrived in Viet Nam

Ha Noi, 29 November 2021 – Viet Nam received 969,930 doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine donated by the Government of France through the COVAX Facility on 27 November. An additional bilateral donation by the Government of France of 400,000 doses is expected to be delivered in the coming days. This donation was announced by French Prime Minister Jean Castex during Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s official visit in France on November 3-5.

“Sharing COVID-19 vaccines is one of France’s top priorities”, Ambassador of France Nicolas Warnery said. “Last April, France was the first country to share vaccine doses under the COVAX mechanism and has since committed to donating 120 million doses by the end of the first half of 2022. The donation of almost 1.4 million doses, in addition to the 672 000 doses donated to Vietnam in September, is part of this commitment. This support is in line with the longstanding and successful cooperation between France and Viet Nam in the medical field.”

Ambassador Nicolas Warnery also added that “France is demonstrating its solidarity with the countries that were hit by the pandemic, in order to increase global vaccine coverage. France is offering its partners all types of vaccines which has been used to vaccinate its own population: Astra Zeneca, Pfizer, Janssen and soon Moderna. A majority of donations by France are channeled through the COVAX facility, to ensure efficient and equitable global allocation.”

This donation comes as an addition to the #TeamEurope (European Union and its Member States) support to help Viet Nam fight the pandemic. This contribution has been really significant both through financial contribution to COVAX and through vaccines and other medical items donations by Member States. Viet Nam has been experiencing recently the largest and most severe COVID-19 outbreak since the beginning of the pandemic. The Government has been taking strong measures to control the spread of coronavirus, including speeding up vaccination for its population. 

The Vietnamese Foreign Affairs Ministry indicated that the support and assistance that the French Government and people provide to the Government and people of Vietnam in the context of the complicated developments of the Covid-19 pandemic is of great significance. It is a living testament to the strategic partnership between the two countries which affirm the spirit of cooperation and mutual support in disease prevention. 

“Every vaccine arrival in Viet Nam means more people getting protected from getting severe illness from COVID-19 and we are grateful to the Government and people of France for these additional vaccines”, says Dr Kidong Park, United Nations Resident Coordinator ad interim and the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Viet Nam. “WHO will continue to work with our Government counterparts in ensuring we cover the priority groups and that no one is left behind wherever they are in the county”.

“Global solidarity, the generosity of Governments who have committed funding to COVAX and those Governments who are also donating vaccine – this is what is making the difference as we seek to ensure vaccines reach to every corner of this country and the world, equitably. The vaccines donated by the Government of France will help Vietnam to escalate its effort in vaccination, especially as the important vaccination of children against COVID-19 begins”, said Ms. Rana Flowers, UNICEF Representative.

With the delivery of vaccines donated by the Government of France, Viet Nam has received 31,145,260 doses of COVID-19 vaccines via the COVAX Facility. The COVAX Facility is co-led by WHO, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovations (CEPI), GAVI - the Vaccine Alliance, and UNICEF as a key delivery partner.

To date, over 120,644,108 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Viet Nam, among them over 49,685,343 million second doses. The additional vaccines will help the Ministry of Health to expand coverage and reach more people from priority groups, including the elderly and those with underlying conditions, contributing to attaining the country’s target of vaccinating more than 70 per cent of population by the end of the first quarter of 2022.

While the continuous arrival of the COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX Facility is encouraging, it will take some time for every priority group to be vaccinated. Thus, it is essential to continue 5K practices to reduce virus transmission: wear face masks, wash hands regularly, practice physical distancing, stop gathering and fill out health declaration.

For further information, please contact:

UN

• Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, UNICEF Việt Nam, 84-24-38500225; +84-904154678; email: ntthuong@unicef.org
• Tran Thi Loan, WHO Viet Nam; Tel. +84-91-541-3814; Email: wpvnmmedia@who.int

France

• Dr Thomas Mourez, French Embassy, Health cooperation attaché, +84 24 39 44 58 03, +84 84 66 88 023, thomas.mourez@diplomatie.gouv.fr 
• Mme Nhan Thi My Ngoc, French Embassy, Press attaché, +84 24 39 44 57 33, ngoc.nhan-thi-my@diplomatie.gouv.fr