(Illustrative photo)

According to the Ministry of Health, Vietnam needs 150 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines worth over 1 billion USD. On Wednesday, the Prime Minister decided to establish a COVID-19 Vaccine Fund  to manage financial resources to buy vaccines and support the study of home-grown vaccines.

Vo Thanh Hung, Director of the State Budget Department under the Ministry of Finance explained how the Fund will work. “We’ll have fund management regulations and donors can send money to the Fund's bank accounts. It’s our duty to make public the donations of individuals and organizations on the website of either the State Bank of Vietnam or the Ministry of Finance. Now businesses can send their donations to the Ministry of Finance’s account and their money will be transferred to the Fund," Hung said. 

He added the government and the Vietnam Fatherland Front call on all individuals and organizations to make voluntary donations to the Fund. 

At the launch of the COVID-19 Vaccine Fund on Thursday, donors pledged a total of 116 million USD to the Fund to buy vaccines, medical equipment, assistance for quarantine areas and treatment.