The US will give another three million Moderna Covid-19 vaccine doses to Vietnam in addition to two million that arrived in Hanoi last week. 

Two million US-donated Moderna vaccine doses arrived in Hanoi on July 10. Photo: UNICEF

The drug will be delivered to Vietnam through Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).

The doses, which are said to “arrive in Vietnam as soon as possible”, are meaningful in the context that the pandemic is sweeping through the southern region of the country.

On December 8, 2020, Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine got the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s emergency use authorization in individuals 18 years of age and older. In April 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) listed the Moderna vaccine for emergency use.

The two-dose Moderna is an mRNA vaccine having 94% effective against Covid-19 hospitalization among fully vaccinated adults and 64% effective among partially vaccinated adults aged ≥65 years, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

US famed physician Dr. Eric Topol has noted that the available data from multiple nations finds that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are 96% effective in preventing Covid hospitalizations and deaths from Delta variant infections.

In Vietnam, the Ministry of Health on June 29 approved the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use.

Two million Moderna vaccine doses, which arrived in Vietnam on July 10, have been allocated to 53 cities and provinces across Vietnam to be administered to frontline forces, including health workers, police, and military personnel.

In addition to this vaccine donation, the US has provided more than US$17.7 million in Covid-19 related assistance to Vietnam since the start of the pandemic, according to the US Embassy in Hanoi.

So far, the US has contributed US$2 billion to Gavi in support of COVAX’s purchase and delivery of Covid-19 vaccines to 92 recipient countries, making it the largest single financial donor supporting COVAX.