Ha Noi, 1st Jun 2022– Australia has shared 7,245,800 million Pfizer-BioNTech paediatric COVID-19 vaccine doses with Vietnam purchased through an agreement with UNICEF and in partnership with Vietnam’s Ministry of Health. The vaccines were delivered between 20 and 28 May to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Australia has now shared more than 22.2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses with Vietnam, including 7.8 million doses for Vietnam’s adult COVID-19 vaccination program and 7.2 million Moderna doses for paediatric use to launch Vietnam’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout for children.
Australia’s Ambassador to Vietnam, Robyn Mudie, welcomed the recent deliveries, highlighting Australia’s ongoing support for Vietnam’s COVID-19 response. “Australia has been proud to work in partnership with Vietnam since 2021 on the national COVID-19 vaccination campaign, sharing adult vaccine doses and supporting the rollout across the country. I am delighted that we could share 14.4 million doses to support Vietnam’s paediatric vaccine campaign and pleased that we have been able to share more than 22 million doses in total with our close friend, Vietnam”.
Along with doses, Australia is delivering a AUD60 million package of support for Vietnam’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout. As part of this package, Australia is working in partnership with UNICEF and the Ministry of Health to strengthen vaccine delivery systems – including cold chain upgrades, training for healthcare workers, production of communications materials, and planning and implementation of the vaccine rollout in remote provinces across Vietnam. This package also includes mobile vaccination sessions to remote and hard to reach areas, so that the most vulnerable populations are not left behind.
“As COVID-19 remains with us, vaccines are still our best bet to reduce the mortality and impact of the disease. Vaccines help to reduce the probability that children will get long COVID or suffer major side effects.”, said Rana Flowers, UNICEF Representative. “UNICEF is delighted to join hands with Australia to provide COVID-19 vaccines for children in Vietnam as well as to support our partners to enhance the capacity of the health and immunization systems to efficiently and equitably distribute COVID-19 vaccines”.
For further information, please contact:
Nguyen Thi Le Trang, Australian Embassy at email: [email protected]
Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, UNICEF Viet Nam at email: [email protected]
