Illustrative photo. (Source: iStock)The freezers were handed over to the Vietnamese Ministry ofHealth by US Ambassador Marc Knapper in Ho Chi Minh City on March 4.
They are among 111 ultra-low temperature freezers the US Department ofDefence is providing to Vietnam with a total value of approximately 1 millionUSD. They will be sent to HCM City and several southern provinces.
In his remarks at the handover ceremony,Knapper said together with the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the US Departmentof Defence has stood alongside Vietnamese partners in the battle againstCOVID-19.
The US donation of the ultra-low temperature freezers today and theprevious deliveries of more than 26 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, 100ventilators and other medical supplies to Vietnam mark an important stepforward in the bilateral partnership in healthcare, he said.
With these ultra-low temperature freezers, Vietnam can safely store anddistribute mRNA vaccines, he said.
The diplomat stressed that the US is committed to assisting Vietnamese people in combating the COVID-19 pandemic and the US Mission willcontinue lobbying for the delivery of more COVID-19 vaccines to Vietnam untilthere are enough vaccines for anyone who wants to be vaccinated.
He expressed his confidence that together both countrieswill be able to weather the COVID-19 crisis.
Assoc. Prof., Dr. Nguyen Vu Trung, Director of the PasteurInstitute in HCM City, one of the recipients, thanked the US for its timelysupport, highlighting the importance of the ultra-low temperature freezers in storing anddistributing the vaccines.
The freezers will be used by the Pasteur Institute HCM City, ChoRay Hospital, 176 Military Hospital and CDCs of 20 southern provinces to backthe country’s ongoing COVID-19 vaccine rollout./.
VNA
