Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the aid agency of the South Korean Government, has presented 9.45 million single-use syringes and 200,000 safety boxes to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) to support Vietnam’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign.

KOICA representative hands over the package of safety boxes to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology. Photo: KOICA

This is a part of the 42.5 million syringes worth US$2.5 million that will be donated by the South Korean Government via KOICA to Vietnam’s Ministry of Health (MoH)this year, contributing to ramping up the vaccination against Covid-19 in Vietnam.

Country Director of KOICA Vietnam Office Cho Han-Deog said that South Korea had committed to solidarity and cooperation to end the Covid-19 pandemic.

In this context, the syringes are to help Vietnam fight against the pandemic, where vaccination is robustly in progress, Cho Han-Deog stressed.

The MoH will distribute the syringes and safety boxes to provinces and cities nationwide for use in the Spring Covid-19 vaccination campaign launched by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, which aims to give booster shots for adults in the first quarter of 2022.

In pursuant to a memorandum of understanding between KOICA and Vietnam’s health ministry, the South Korean agency will provide syringes and safety boxes to aid Vietnam's national expanded immunization program in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Earlier, in January 2022, KOICA handed over 6.3 million single-use syringes to the NIHE. In late 2021, the South Korean Government provided 1.39 million doses of vaccines to Vietnam and KOICA handed over 300,000 Covid-19 antigen test kits for the country.

KOICA is also actively supporting the Vietnamese authorities and vulnerable people by providing quarantine materials, food, and medical supplies.