The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has decided to provide 1,600 cold storage boxes for vaccine transportation as emergency support to Vietnam’s nationwide vaccination campaign, in response to the proposal by the National Institute of Health and Epidemiology (NIHE).

The support package worth 100 million JPY (US$909,000), purchased by JICA in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Vietnam, is expected to be delivered in September.

A cold storage box to preserve Covid-19 vaccines. Photo: VNA

A cold storage box keeping vaccines at 2-8 degrees Celsius attached with a temperature monitoring device will help to ensure the vaccine quality during transportation from central storage to injection stations nationwide.

On July 8, the Ministry of Health issued a decision approving a plan on the nation-wide "Covid-19 Vaccination Campaign 2021-2022". This largest-ever vaccination campaign is scheduled to take place from July 2021 to April 2022 with 19,000 stations across Vietnam.

In July, JICA implemented a cooperation program with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in a project "Border control to prevent infection spread from borders and strengthen the pandemic control system".

Through the support program worth JPY20 million ($173,669), JICA helps train and improve the capacity of Vietnam’s border gate officers on disease control, and provides personal protective equipment and equipment necessary for hand hygiene.

In fact, a number of coronavirus-infected illegal immigrants have contributed to community Covid-19 outbreaks in Vietnam. JICA’s project will support Vietnamese border officers to strengthen the capacity in investigating and monitoring infectious diseases, provide personal protective equipment and hand disinfection equipment for troops controlling the border.

JICA pledged to keep working with the Japanese Government to support Vietnam in controlling the Covid-19 pandemic.