(Bloomberg) -- Vietnam is seeking assistance from the U.S., Japan, European Union and United Nations organizations to help it obtain Covid-19 vaccines, according to a post on the Ministry of Health's website.
Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long asked U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Daniel Kritenbrink to help Vietnam access vaccines from American drug-makers and for Washington to donate vaccines to the Southeast Asian country, it said. Long also is seeking U.S. technical and financial support for its vaccination campaign.
Long asked Japan for help obtaining vaccines and to transfer technologies for vaccine production and trials to Vietnam, according to the post. The minister made similar requests to the European Union.
Vietnam needs 150 million doses of vaccines this year, it said. Vietnam has inoculated more than 51,000 people as of April 1, the health ministry said on its website.
Vietnam has a deal with AstraZeneca Plc. to supply 30 million doses. The country expected to get by the second quarter about 4.9 million doses through the World Health Organization-backed Covax program and about 30 million doses between July and September.
The country received 811,200 doses of AstraZeneca through the Covax program on Thursday, less than the 1.37 million expected on March 25 due to production delays.
The government has said it is in talks with other vaccines producers, including Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson and Moderna Inc.
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
