Polish Ambassador to Vietnam Wojciech Gerwel, on behalf of the Polish Government, handed over 501,600 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Deputy Minister of Health Truong Quoc Cuong. The vaccine batch from Poland arrived in Noi Bai Airport on August 21.

Addressing the handover ceremony, the Polish diplomat 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 meals to medical workers in the frontline.

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Health Truong Quoc Cuong expressed his thanks to the Polish side for their support for Vietnam, especially the COVID-19 vaccine batch as the Vietnamese Government and people are exerting great efforts to curb the spread of the pandemic. The support is even more meaningful as the two countries is celebrating 71 years of diplomatic relations.

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 US$4 million. The European country has expressed its willingness to transfer an additional three 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.

Also on August 23, at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi, the Vietnamese side received 200,000 doses of the Vero-Cell vaccine produced by Sinopharm and 201,600 disposable syringes as a gift from China’s Ministry of National Defence to the Ministry of National Defence of Vietnam.

Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Xiong Bo handed over the vaccines and syringes to Deputy Minister of National Defence Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien at the event.

The Chinese ambassador said that the gift is an expression of the sentiment and support of the Chinese military and Government in general to the military and people of Vietnam.

Senior Lieutenant General Chien thanked the Chinese side for the timely support, highlighting the practical meaning of the gift amid the complicated developments of the pandemic in Vietnam.

Previously, the Chinese Government provided 500,000 vaccine doses for Vietnam.

On the same day, the Ministry of Health announced that domestic manufacturers for Molnupiravir – an oral antiviral treatment for COVID-19 – are ready to sponsor the first batches of the drug with 16,000 doses and will provide an additional 100,000 doses by September 5 (a total of 116,000 doses corresponding to 2,320,000 Molnupiravir 400mg tablets) for a pilot treatment for COVID-19 infections at home and in the community.

The programme is expected to start on August 25 in Ho Chi Minh City.

In parallel, the first imported batch of Molnupiravir, consisting of over 300,000 tablets of 200mg, enough for more than 7,500 doses, arrived in Vietnam today.