Australia has donated a total of 7.2 million Covid-19 vaccine doses for pediatric use in Vietnam. 

On May 10, the handover ceremony was held with the attendance of Australia’s Deputy Head of Mission in Vietnam Mark Tattersall and Vietnam's Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen.

The delivery of the vaccines was made within a month starting on April 8 with different shipments.

Earlier, Australia donated Vietnam 7.8 million Covid-19 vaccine doses. It means that Australia has so far donated 15 million doses to the Southeast Asian country to assist its immunization drive, one of the world's fastest vaccination campaigns. 

Deputy Minister Do Xuan Tuyen and Deputy Ambassador Mark Tattersall visited the cold storage of Covid-19 vaccines at Vietnam’s National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology. Photo: Tran Minh

Australia is also delivering a comprehensive package of support to bolster Vietnam’s Covid-19 vaccine rollout. Under this package, Australia is working in partnership with UNICEF to support cold chain upgrades, training for healthcare workers, production of communications materials, and planning and implementation of the vaccine rollout in remote provinces in Vietnam.

Deputy Head of Mission Tattersall congratulated Vietnam on its Covid-19 vaccine rollout to date and welcomed the next phase of Australia’s support.

“These paediatric Covid-19 vaccine doses will help bolster Vietnam’s efforts to contain the pandemic, by extending the vaccine rollout to protect younger people in Vietnam, assisting with our return to the new normal. I have been delighted to see Vietnam’s paediatric coronavirus vaccination rollout commence with the vaccines newly arrived from Australia,” Tattersall said.

The 7.2 million doses of vaccine will help Vietnam protect children aged 5 to under 12 during the pandemic, Mark Tattersall stressed.

Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen said the ministry will use the vaccines effectively, adding that vaccination against Covid-19 for children aged 5-under 12 is considered one of its most important tasks in 2022.

He added that around 11.8 million Vietnamese children 5 to 12 years of age are eligible for vaccination and Vietnam has approved two types of Covid-19 vaccines for children: Pfizer for children aged 5-11 and Moderna for children aged 6-under 12. A full course of each vaccine requires two shots.

As of May 9, Vietnam has administered more than 1.85 million doses of vaccine to children aged 5-under 12. It strives to complete vaccinations for all children in this age group by June 2022 so that they can go to school in peace of mind.

The country began Covid-19 vaccination for children aged 5-under 12 on April 14.