Australia partners with Vietnam on vaccine rollout

Australia will deliver more than 400,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to Vietnam this week, as part of the ongoing commitment to work together with our close friend and strategic partner.

It brings the total number of doses that Australia has shared with the Pacific and Southeast Asia to over 2 million. This is part of Australia’s commitment to share at least 20 million doses with our region by mid-2022.

This week’s delivery is the first instalment towards Australia’s commitment of 1.5 million AstraZeneca doses to be shared with Vietnam this year, as our region responds to COVID-19.

It is in addition to Australia’s existing $40 million package of vaccine-related support to Vietnam. Australia is partnering with UNICEF to procure additional doses to support Vietnam’s COVID-19 response, and providing funding for syringes, training of healthcare workers, fridges to maintain cold chain storage, and support for the vaccine rollout in remote provinces.

Australia’s partnership with Vietnam complements our $100 million commitment to the Quad Vaccine Partnership with the United States, Japan and India, and contribution of $130 million to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), providing fair and equitable access to vaccines in developing nations.

Access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines is the highest priority for countries in our region, which will help to save lives and promote our shared economic recovery.