Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked AstraZeneca to create favorable conditions for Viet Nam to secure at least 10 million vaccine dose by early August.
PM Pham Minh Chinh ((4th from right) and Chairman and General Director, AstraZeneca Viet Nam Nitin Kapoor (3rd from left), Ha Noi, June 29, 2021 - Photo: VGP/Quang Hieu
PM Pham made the request at his reception for Nitin Kapoor, President for Asia Area Frontier Market at AstraZeneca and Chairman and General Director of AstraZeneca Viet Nam on June 29.
Pham called on AstraZeneca to collaborate closely with and assist Viet Nam in vaccine production in the Southeast Asian country, and reduce vaccine prices.
Kapoor spoke highly of the Vietnamese Government’s efforts in realizing its vaccine strategy to protect the public’s health and revive the economy.
He also said the world is facing a shortage of COVID-19 vaccine supply since the pandemic is evolving complicatedly and unpredictably while the global vaccine production capacity remains modest.
Kapoor promised to persuade the parent company to deliver eight million doses from now to early August and consider best possible vaccine prices to Viet Nam.
AstraZeneca will help Viet Nam manufacture vaccine and increase investment in production of medicine for cancer, cardiovascular, intestinal diseases in Viet Nam.
So far, Viet Nam, which has so far received about 4.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, has relied heavily on the AstraZeneca brand for its inoculation program, which started in March.
Its vaccines have come via donations, the COVAX vaccine sharing scheme and government procurements.
The Government expects to acquire 150 million vaccines doses to cover 70 percent of its population this year./.
