A shipment of more than 1.2 million Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine doses donated by the U.S. to Vietnam touched down in Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday, according to the U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City.

“Good news this morning!” the diplomatic agency said in a post on its verified Facebook account.

“A shipment of 1.2 million Pfizer vaccine doses arrived in HCMC.

“With these safe and effective vaccines, we are one step closer to beating back COVID-19.”

The U.S. Consulate General attached a photo showing 1,203,930 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses having arrived in the city and the U.S. having donated upwards of 14.6 million vaccine shots to Vietnam as yet.

“Stay tuned for more great news!” the consulate said in the same post.

More than 1.3 million Pfizer-BioNTech shots given by the U.S. had been delivered to Hanoi on Saturday.

Vietnam and the U.S. have cooperated in capacity building to help the former respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi.

Such cooperation is built on their long-standing partnership, with the U.S. having provided almost US$1 billion to help improve the Vietnamese healthcare system over the past few years.

The U.S. has committed $26.7 million to Vietnam’s effort to cope with the health crisis since it began early last year.

In October, the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Hanoi received 77 out of 111 ultra-low temperature freezers, sponsored by the U.S. government via the Department of Defense, to store Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses.

U.S. President Joe Biden said in September that Washington would donate an additional 500 million Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine jabs to nations around the world, taking its total donations past one billion doses, Reuters reported.

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