Vietnam on August 23 received 501,600 doses of AstraZenaca Covid-19 vaccine donated by the Government of Poland, becoming the first recipient of Poland’s vaccine and medical equipment outside Europe.

Vietnamese Deputy Health Minister Truong Quoc Cuong (L) and Polish Ambassador to Vietnam Wojciech Gerwel at the handover ceremony on August 23. Photos: Embassy of Poland in Hanoi, Vietnam's MoH

Polish Ambassador to Vietnam Wojciech Gerwel attended the handover ceremony held on Monday morning with the attendance of Vietnamese Deputy Health Minister Truong Quoc Cuong and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs To Anh Dung.

Gerwel said the Government of Poland decided to donate and resell Vietnam such the doses shortly after Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh sent a letter to Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki.

The Government of Poland will also grant US$4 million worth of medical equipment, which is scheduled to arrive Vietnam in early September.

Ambassador Wojciech Gerwel at the ceremony.

The ambassador said he was touched by good deeds by the Vietnamese community in Poland like preparing meals to Polish frontline workers when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in 2020. “We have received Vietnamese friends’ help in difficult times, now is time for us to repay it.”

“I met vaccine carriers and recipients at the airport and found them very emotional. I was very moved at that time,” Gerwell emotionally shared.

Deputy Health Minister Truong Quoc Cuong and Deputy Foreign Minister To Anh Dung (L) at the ceremony.

For his part, Deputy Health Minister Truong Quoc Cuong expressed special thanks to the ambassador’s contributions in securing the donation and the Government of Poland and Polish people’s support to Vietnam as well as to the Vietnamese community in Poland.

The assistance becomes more meaningful in the context that the two countries commemorate the 71st anniversary of the diplomatic relations.

Poland will also resell Vietnam three million vaccine doses and more in the coming time, ranking the first country reselling such a large volume of vaccine to the Southeast Asian country.

In the meeting with Vietnam’s PM Pham Minh Chinh on August 17, Gerwel said Vietnam is Poland’s priority partner in the region.

Chinh said the Poland’s aid demonstrates the long-standing and sincere friendship between the two countries.

Ambassador Wojciech Gerwel at the airport in Hanoi.