HCMC – State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh have written to European Union (EU) leaders asking them for help to access Covid-19 vaccines and to share their vaccines with Vietnam.
To secure more Covid vaccine supplies for the country, State President Phuc on August 18 wrote to European Council President Charles Michel proposing the EU transfer Covid vaccines to Vietnam.
State President Phuc said that Vietnam was grappling with the raging coronavirus while having difficulty gaining access to vaccines for some 100 million people and running short of medical equipment in the health care system.
As such, the State President expected the EU to render the maximum support for Vietnam through relief aid, vaccine sharing and vaccine production technology transfer, medical equipment supply and sharing its Covid-response experience.
In addition, PM Chinh has written to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen calling for support over vaccine access, the local media reported.
Apart from highly valuing the partnership between Vietnam and the EU amid the impact of Covid-19, PM Chinh expressed his hope that the EU would consider helping Vietnam with Covid vaccines and propose the Covax Facility prioritize vaccine allocations for Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries due to the rapid spikes in cases in the region.
Up to now, Vietnam has received over 20 million doses of Covid vaccines. More than 15.5 million doses have been administered nationwide, with 14 million people getting the first shot and 1.5 million receiving two shots.
