Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Wednesday morning met with Aurélia Nguyen, a Vietnamese French, chief program strategy officer at Gavi, a global Vaccine Alliance, to award her Vietnam’s Friendship Medal for her valuable contributions to the country during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The medal demonstrates recognition from the Vietnamese Party, state, and people for her efforts in helping Vietnam fight the pandemic.

Nguyen pledged to closely collaborate with the Vietnamese Health Ministry to eliminate dangerous diseases such as measles and rubella – an acute, contagious viral infection, beef up vaccinations and improve vaccine storage.

Gavi is one of three organizations leading the COVAX vaccine allocation plan, ensuring equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.

When Vietnam and the world were hit by the pandemic, Nguyen began reaching out to top Vietnamese officials.

Over the course of the pandemic, Vietnam was provided with over 70 million COVID-19 vaccine doses under the COVAX scheme, well above the pledged 38.9 million doses.

At a reception for Nguyen in New York, as part of PM Chinh’s ongoing trip to the United States, the Vietnamese government leader thanked her and Gavi for such honorable support during the toughest COVID-19 period.

The prime minister also asked Gavi and Nguyen to maintain their support for Vietnam’s ability to access vaccines against several diseases.

He also hinted at mapping out strategies and plans to promote vaccination expansion and mRNA vaccine technology transfer.

The prime minster expressed hope that Nguyen will help connect prestigious foreign experts, organizations, and firms with Vietnamese partners to transfer technology, and manufacture biological products and vaccines in the country.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expects Aurélia Nguyen to maintain her support for Vietnam. Photo: Nhat Bac / Tuoi Tre

Nguyen shared that she highly valued Vietnam’s high COVID-19 vaccination coverage and rapid post-pandemic socio-economic recovery.

She also hoped that the two sides will deepen their cooperation to produce vaccines against multiple diseases in the coming time.

Nguyen affirmed that she will continue supporting Vietnam in the implementation of its national vaccination programs.

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