Banking sector, businesses hand over donations to COVID-19 vaccine fund

Addressing the ceremony, Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said that under the direction of the Politburo, the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat, the Government, the Prime Minister, the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, and the Ministry of Health, and with the involvement of the entire political system, Vietnam has brought three outbreaks under control and is gradually controlling a fourth.

As part of efforts to access COVID-19 vaccines, the Ministry of Health has promoted negotiations for purchases from foreign producers and suppliers.

Commitments have been made so far to provide some 110 million doses to Vietnam this year, including 38.9 million from the COVAX Facility programme, 30 million from AstraZeneca, and 31 million from Pfizer/BioNTech. The ministry has also registered to purchase an additional 10 million doses under a cost-sharing mechanism through the COVAX Facility programme.

The ministry is continuing its efforts to secure 150 million doses to inoculate 75 percent of the population, he noted.

The minister expressed a hope that the banking sector will continue to accompany the health sector in combating the pandemic.

The financial assistance and vaccines presented at the ceremony will be donated to the COVID-19 vaccine fund, which will manage and coordinate finances for the sponsorship, purchase, and use of vaccines.

The fund’s operations fall under the supervision of State financial management institutions and the State Audit Office of Vietnam.

It is obliged to report collections and spending to the Government and the National Assembly, and to publicise mobilised sources, lists of donors, and volume of vaccines on hand./.