The Japanese government is planning to provide COVID-19 vaccines to Vietnam in response to a request from the Southeast Asian nation, public broadcaster NHK reported Saturday, without attribution.
The government aims to dispatch the vaccines as soon as this month, the report said, adding that the provision would be made outside the Covax initiative, the World Health Organization-backed effort to buy and distribute vaccines to low- and middle-income nations.
According to recent surveys, just over 1% of Vietnam’s population had received at least one dose of the vaccine as of Thursday. The figure is the lowest among the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
On Friday, Japan announced it had shipped 1.24 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccines to Taiwan, which has been struggling to procure its own supplies and blamed China for impeding shipments of the shots.
The vaccines. developed by AstraZeneca PLC of Britain and manufactured domestically through licensed production, arrived at Taoyuan International Airport in northern Taiwan the same day, Taiwanese media reported. Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs offered its appreciation in a statement.
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi reiterated that Taiwan has an urgent need for supplies of the vaccine as COVID-19 spreads and that domestic production is not set to be ramped up until July.
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