First doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine arrive in Vietnam

Representing the Vietnamese Government, Deputy Minister of Health Truong Quoc Cuong was present at the airport to receive the vaccine, alongside Christopher Klein, Chargé d'Affaires of the US Embassy and  John Paul Pullicino, Country Manager and Chief Representative of Pfizer Vietnam.

Addressing the ceremony, Deputy Minister Cuong thanked Pfizer/BioNTech for training Vietnamese experts to receive and use the Comirnaty vaccine.

“Today we are happy to welcome the first batch of the Pfizer vaccine, marking an important milestone in cooperation between the two sides to bring the Comirnaty vaccine to the Vietnamese people, contributing to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Cuong.

The first batch is part of a 31 million dose contract that the Ministry of Health has signed to purchase the vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech.

Cuong expressed his wish that Pfizer will guarantee the delivery of its vaccine to Vietnam this year, while considering rolling out an additional 20 million doses and transferring its vaccine production technology to the nation.

Christopher Klein, Chargé d'Affaires of the US Embassy in Vietnam, emphasized that the delivery is a sign of hope that by "working together, we can overcome the difficulties COVID-19 has imposed on all of us” in order to protect the economy and help people go back to normal life.

Vietnam had persistently conducted negotiations with Pfizer/BioNTech for more than 10 months before signing the contract with the US manufacturer in June 2021.

Comirnaty is a vaccine for preventing coronavirus disease 2019 in people aged 12 years and older. It contains a molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA) with instructions for producing a protein from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

The vaccine has been approved the World Health Organisation and used widely in the United States and many European countries.