Hanoi (VNA) – Responding to thecall from Vietnamese Party and State leaders, overseas Vietnamese around the world as well asinternational friends and organisations have given valuable moral, material andbrainpower support to COVID-19 fight in Vietnam, particularly to the country's goal of vaccine coverage.

Contributions by overseas Vietnamese

As of October 3, 2021, the National COVID-19 Vaccine Fund,which was formed in May, received nearly 8.7 trillion VND (382.3 millionUSD) from businesses and individuals inside and outside the country.

Ngo Huong Nam, Vice Chairman of the State Committee forOverseas Vietnamese Affairs under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that sofar, overseas Vietnamese contributed over 60 billion VND to COVID-19 preventionand control activities, including about 12 billion VND to the National COVID-19Vaccine Fund.

Meanwhile, more than 30 Vietnamese associations in differentcountries have launched campaigns to raise funds for COVID-19 control inVietnam, he said, adding that Vietnamese community abroad has also madecontributions in brainpower to the fight.

Notably, Dr. Ho Nhan, an overseas Vietnamesein the US and General Director of Nanogen has been implementing the NanoCovaxCOVID-19 vaccine project, while Tran Ngoc Phuc, Chairman of the VietnameseAssociation in Japan, Director of Metran Co.Ltd., has transferred the technology to produce ventilators to itspartners in Vietnam, and is producing air purifier masks.

At the same time, many intellectuals’associations, including the Global Associationof Vietnamese Scientists and Experts (AVSEGlobal) and the Vietnam Initiative, are working actively to give support andconsultations to Vietnam in making strategies on pandemic prevention andcontrol as well as economic recovery and development.

Support from international friends,organisations

Along with efforts from the Vietnamese Government andpeople, Vietnamese communities abroad have exerted efforts to help Vietnam accessvaccine sources, while international organisations have accompanied withVietnam during the fight against the pandemic.

To date, Vietnam has received over 11.7million doses of COVID-19 vaccines through COVAX Facility. In October, COVAXwill continue to allocate 85 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to countriesaround the world, including Vietnam.

Nara Flowers, UNICEF Representative in Vietnamlauded Vietnam’s performance in conducting the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, withlow ratio of severe reactions after injection. She held that there are positivesigns that Vietnam will receive all 150 million doses ofCOVID-19 vaccines by the end of this year.

For his part, World Health Organization (WHO)Representative to Vietnam Kidong Park said that Vietnam's way to mobilise resources from individuals and the private sector throughthe National COVID-19 Vaccine Fund is a unique move. By voluntarily contributing to the fund,people and enterprises have shown their confidence in the Government.

The WHO representative recommended that theVietnamese Government should speed up the COVID-19 vaccination as fast aspossible for prioritised groups, while continuing to strictly implementing its5K message as well as public health protection measures to minimise thespreading of the pandemic when social distancing measures are loosened./.