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HANOI (Reuters) – The United States is considering giving more coronavirus vaccines to Vietnam, its ambassador to the United States said on Sunday, as the Southeast Asian country struggles to control outbreaks of the variant Fast-spreading virus delta.
After successfully containing the virus during much of the pandemic, Vietnam has faced rapid outbreaks of infections, with daily cases repeatedly reaching new highs.
Vietnam received a shipment of 3 million doses of Moderna from the United States on Sunday, bringing the amount donated by the United States, via the global COVAX vaccination program, to 5 million doses.
“The US side has said it is also considering more vaccine donations to Vietnam soon,” US Ambassador Ha Kim Ngoc said in a speech posted on a government website.
Vietnam is also in talks with the United States on domestic production of mRNA vaccines, its foreign ministry said Thursday, adding that production could begin in the fourth quarter or early 2022.
The ministry did not identify the US and Vietnamese companies involved in the talks.
State media reported on Saturday that Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup was in talks with San Diego-based Arcturus Therapeutics Holding over the production of mRNA vaccines.
Clinical trials could begin in Vietnam in August, the Tuoi Tre newspaper reported, adding that the companies could produce 100 to 200 million doses per year under such a deal.
Vingroup and Arcturus did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Vietnam has kept the virus at bay for the first year of the pandemic, but infections have spread rapidly since late April.
The Department of Health reported 7,968 infections on Saturday, a record daily increase.
In total, it has recorded nearly 95,000 infections and at least 370 deaths, most in the southern shopping center of Ho Chi Minh City.
Nearly half of the latest Moderna vaccine delivery will be sent to that city, the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi said on Saturday.
Additional reporting by James Pearson
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