About two million doses of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine are scheduled to arrive in Vietnam this week, according to the White House.

Moderna Covid-19 vaccine. Photo: AFP/VNA

The news was released on July 6 by the White House’s Press Secretary Jen Psaki.

The volume for Vietnam is part of the 80 million doses that US President Biden has pledged to offer countries worldwide.

On June 3, the Bide-Harris administration announced names recipients, including Vietnam. Hanoi is listed in Washington’s first allocation plan of 25 million Covid-19 vaccine doses.

Vietnam will receive the doses through COVAX.

Commenting on the move, Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Ha Kim Ngoc said the time when the administration announced that Vietnam was among the first countries to receive the vaccine aid was “very significant.”

Meanwhile, Adam Sitkoff, Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Hanoi, said the support results from joint efforts by many people calling for the US vaccine allocation, including President Nguyen Xuan Phuc who has recently sent a letter to President Biden.

He called the support “a wonderful start” of a large scale program to use vaccine by US suppliers, adding that the amount will be much higher than 80 million in this summer.

Adam Sitkoff has stressed the importance of vaccination, saying that it plays an essential role in pursuing the recovery plans.

Vietnam has administered 4.1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines so far.

As of July 7, Vietnam has logged a cumulative 22,341 Covid-19 cases, including 84% detected in the ongoing wave of the pandemic that broke out in late April.

Big cities and provinces like Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Danang, and Binh Duong are all affected.