Washington: The United States sent Vietnam two million doses of Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday, the White House said, in his latest aid to the countries struggling to tame a pandemic.
Delivery of Moderna Vaccines – Part of the first 80 million doses promised by President Joe Biden to be allocated throughout the world – must arrive in Vietnam this weekend, a White House official, who spoke with anonymous requirements, told AFP.
“This is just the beginning of the dose sent to Southeast Asia,” the official said.
One million doses went to Malaysia on Monday and last week the White House announced the delivery of “immediately” of four million doses to Indonesia.
Other regional countries are in line with the share of 80 million doses, Cambodia, Laos, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Thailand.
Communist Vietnam, which borders China, was originally seen as a model to fight a pandemic.
However, the level of vaccination was low in the country around 97 million people and the last few weeks had seen sharp rising infections.
Biden administration officials said shipping to Vietnam, which was carried out through the World Health Organization Covax program, was part of a strategy intended to “end the pandemic everywhere.” This donation is not a “vaccine diplomacy” contest called China and Russia, said the official, although Beijing and Moscow have used their vaccines produced domestically to deepen the world.
“We share this dose not to secure favors or extract concessions.
Our vaccine does not come with a string installed,” the official said, repeating the White House line.
The United States has largely received a controlled pandemic at home, after nominating the world’s largest death toll in more than 600,000 people.
Biden argues that Largesse US vaccine abroad will eventually benefit Americans by helping the whole world finally stop transmission of viruses.
“It’s a morally true thing, the right thing about the health perspective of the global public, and the right to our collective security and welfare,” the White House said.
While the critics say even interesting numbers are still too little to reverse the coronavirus at the bottom of the world, the White House says it leads the way.
In addition to 80 million doses that have been set aside, the Biden government has committed to contributing $ 2 billion to Covax.
It also bought 500 million Pfizer-Biontonech vaccines for the African Union and 92 poor countries.
At the G7 Summit recently in England, US partners agreed to contribute another 500 million doses.
In total, the United States has so far provided around 40 million doses to countries as far as South Korea and Honduras, the White House said.
Announcing a Vietnam batch, the White House noted that his contribution abroad total “significantly more than other countries had sent.”