WHO pledges to work for early COVID-19 vaccine delivery to Vietnam

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam had an online discussion on June 17 with the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Director for the Western Pacific Takeshi Kasai, who vowed to work for the early delivery of COVID-19 vaccines under the COVAX Facility to Vietnam.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam speaks at the online discussion with WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific Takeshi Kasai on June 17

Highly valuing the WHO’s role in the global fight against COVID-19, Deputy PM Dam, head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, thanked the organisation and its representative in Vietnam for actively supporting the country over the last one and a half year, since the pandemic broke out.

The Vietnamese Government is determined and exerting every effort to accelerate the vaccination campaign so as to achieve herd immunity soon, thereby resuming socio-economic activities and ensuring people’s health and social security, he affirmed.

The Deputy PM asked the WHO to step up the delivery of vaccines under the COVAX Facility to Vietnam, promote cooperation in technology transfer so that Vietnam can become one of the vaccine production centres in the region, thus contributing to common efforts to help regional countries access vaccine supply in a timely manner.

For his part, Kasai applauded Vietnam’s effective response to the pandemic, noting that aside from senior leaders’ drastic directions, communication work about disease prevention and control measures has been carried out fruitfully, securing people’s participation and serious adherence.

Vietnam has been establishing itself as a role model in the COVID-19 response in the region, he stressed, speaking highly of the country's sound and effective approach to vaccines, which views vaccines as an important tool to help control the pandemic but also combines it with other anti-pandemic measures.

The country has also made even investment in the pandemic prevention and control and, especially, attracted the private sector’s engagement and promoted the public - private partnership in seeking vaccine supply, technology transfer, and vaccine production, according to the WHO official.

He pledged continued assistance for Vietnam in the pandemic response, saying that he will support technology transfer, and consider the cooperation possibility to turn the country into a vaccine research and production centre in the region.

At the discussion, the two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation, share information about policies and safety rules for vaccination, and maximise the WHO’s role in helping countries with the pandemic combat.

On this occasion, the WHO Regional Director thanked the Vietnamese Government for donating 500,000 USD to the COVAX Facility, which, he said, reflects the country’s sense of responsibility towards common efforts.

He also appreciated Vietnam’s successful treatment of a COVID-19 patient who is an expert of the WHO./.

VNA