Vietnam strives to successfully realize vaccine diplomacy strategy
VOV.VN - Vietnam will continue to embark on its vaccine diplomacy strategy to secure an adequate supply of COVID-19 vaccines for domestic use, said Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Minh Vu in an exclusive interview granted to VOV on July 7.
Vu said since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic Vietnamese leaders have been working hard on prevention and control measures, including the implementation of a vaccine strategy, which identifies vaccine diplomacy as the key to containing the disease.
Deploying vaccine diplomacy is a necessary step Vietnam has taken in the context of a limited supply and severe inequality of vaccine access globally, according to the diplomat.
Top Vietnamese leaders, while phoning their foreign counterparts or attending international meetings, have voiced Vietnam’s commitment to join the global fight against COVID-19 and at the same time lobbied for vaccine assistance from the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Germany, Cuba, Israel and Switzerland.
The Prime Minister has directed the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, other relevant ministries and agencies as well as Vietnamese representative missions abroad to access external sources of vaccine through medical cooperation initiatives.
Through negotiations, Vietnam has so far reached agreements with partners and vaccine manufacturers to secure 130 million doses from COVAX, Pfizer/BioNTech, and Sputnik V among others to inoculate at least 70% of its population,
Vietnam has also received vaccine donations from a number of countries, including two million doses from Japan and half a million doses from China.
The United States has announced a decision to share 80 million doses of its vaccine globally and Vietnam is one of the priority recipients globally. The first batch of the Moderna vaccine numbering approximately two million doses is set to arrive in Vietnam this week through COVAX.
Similarly, the United Kingdom has agreed to roll out 100 million doses globally and Vietnam is among the priority recipients of its vaccine to be channeled through COVAX and bilateral cooperation mechanisms.
Australia has approved AUD13.5 million to purchase vaccines for Vietnam through UNICEF. Meanwhile, Germany, Cuba, Japan and several other countries have supported the transfer of vaccine production technology to Vietnam.
“Our vaccine diplomacy strategy has brought about initial encouraging results, and our goal of receiving 10 million doses in July and August is likely to be achievable,” Vu told VOV. “The results are of great significance as COVID-19 vaccines are in short supply globally.”
Moving forward, Deputy Foreign Minister Vu said Vietnam will continue to carry out its vaccine diplomacy strategy, aiming to get multiple sources of vaccine for domestic use.
