Vietnam Fund for Vaccination Prevention of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (VFVC) was made debuted on Saturday evening (June 5) at the Hanoi Opera House with the donation of numerous individuals and organizations domestically and abroad.

Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the ceremony on June 5. Photos: VGP

The fund is aimed to mobilize different sources for the purchase and development of domestic vaccine in order to fulfil the country’s target of vaccinating 70% of people in the 100-million country.

Attending the inauguration ceremony are Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Permanent Member the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat Vo Van Thuong, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh, President of the Vietnamese Fatherland Front (VFF), and Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long.

The government's top leaders text for fundrasing.

The event that was broadcast live on the Vietnam Television and the government’s media channel marked the donation worth more than VND7.6 trillion (US$330 million).

The donors range from schoolchildren to the elderly, religious followers and irreligious ones, and representative of the Vietnam National Buddhist Sangha and the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Vietnam.

On behalf of Hanoi's authorities and people, Chairman of People's Committee Chu Ngoc Anh donated VND100 billion (US$4.33 million) to the fund. The city has also pledged to spend VND1 trillion ($43.3 million) to buy vaccine for local residents. 

PM Pham Minh Chinh thanks Nguyen Manh Tuong, a 82-year-old retiree.

Among the donors are state-run companies (including Viettel Group, Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (Petrovietnam), the Vietnam Electricity (EVN), Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group); leading private groups (Vingroup, Long Thanh Golf, T&T Group, Au Lac Quang Ninh, Novaland, Hoa Phat); banks (Vietcombank, BIDV, Vietinbank, Agribank, Techcombank); foreign-invested enterprises (Samsung Electronic Vietnam, Toyota, Foxconn, Shinhan Vietnam, Suntory Pepsico Vietnam, Prudential Vietnam), among others.

Donations can be made via SMS and bank transfer.

Representative of the Vietnam National Buddhist Sangha at the ceremony.

Speaking at the ceremony, PM Pham Minh Chinh said the establishment of the fund is aimed to help Vietnam cope with the pandemic in the long run as people need to be vaccinated every year.

The fund is estimated to cost VND25 trillion (US$1.08 billion) to buy roughly 150 million doses of vaccine to achieve herd community by 2022.

Representative of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Vietnam.