Kamala Harris says US will donate 1M Pfizer vaccine doses to Vietnam
The U.S. has already donated 5 million doses to the country
The Washington Times opinion editor Charlie Hurt tells 'Fox Business Tonight' that 'the optics could not be more problematic' for Kamala Harris.
Vice President Kamala Harris said Wednesday the U.S. plans to donate 1 million Pfizer coronavirus vaccine doses to Vietnam, where only 2% of the population has been vaccinated.
Harris made the announcement during a meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh shortly after she arrived in Hanoi from Singapore.
The U.S. has already donated 5 million doses to the country.
She said the vaccines would start arriving in Vietnam within a day. The vice president has been on a weeklong tour of the region, reassuring U.S. support of Southeast Asia and countering Chinese influence.
In addition to the new vaccine doses, the U.S. will provide $23 million in American Rescue Plan and emergency funding through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Agency for International Development to help Vietnam expand distribution and access to vaccines, combat the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for future disease threats.
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The Defense Department is also delivering 77 freezers to store the vaccines throughout the country.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris meets Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the Office of Government in Hanoi, Vietnam, Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021. (Associated Press)
The delta variant has surged through the country, causing record numbers of cases with so many citizens unvaccinated.
Ho Chi Minh City, the nation’s business hub and the epicenter of the most recent outbreak, was forced into a lockdown enforced by armed soldiers on the streets.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris looks on during a meeting with Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (not pictured) at the Office of Government in Hanoi, Vietnam, Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021. (Associated Press)
"Our relationship has come a long way in a quarter of a century," Harris said in a meeting with Vietnamese President Ngyuen Xuan Phuc.
In the afternoon, Harris will join a health security event with the health ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations group and Papua New Guinea, where she'll speak more about the launch of the CDC center.
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Harris’ trip has been overshadowed by the U.S’s frantic efforts to get evacuees out of Afghanistan as the Taliban takes over control of the country.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.