Souce: Chinese Embassy in Vietnam

Vietnam will prioritize vaccinating Chinese nationals, Vietnamese who travel to China for work and personnel who work in the north border area, after the country received 500,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccines from China on Sunday.

According to a consensus reached by leaders from both countries, Vietnam decided to give priority to those three groups of people to ensure smooth trade and people exchanges, according to a statement issued by the Chinese embassy on Sunday.

Xiong Bo, Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam, said that China is the first country to provide a large amount of its indigenous vaccines to Vietnam, and hopefully this batch of vaccines will help Vietnam weather the epidemic, and boost its economic and social development. 

Vietnam's ministry of health also said it is willing to cooperate with China in regard to pandemic control and vaccine development. 

Vietnam is tackling a more stubborn wave of infections. The Southeast Asian nation approved China's Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use against COVID-19 in early June.

The country's business hub, Ho Chi Minh City, on Sunday banned public gatherings of more than three people and imposed lockdowns on virus-prone areas.

More than 1.18 million Chinese nationals in over 150 countries have received COVID-19 vaccine shots since China rolled out its "spring sprout vaccine" program in March, said Wang Wenbin, spokesperson of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on June 10.

Global Times