The vaccine doses, which arrived in Vietnam on December 10, were delivered to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology in Hanoi, the statement said.

Germany worked with COVAX to donate the vaccines.

Guido Hildner, Germany’s ambassador to Vietnam, said: “With this new delivery of over 2.5 million doses of vaccine through COVAX, Germany reaffirms its solidarity with Vietnam in combating and overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic. Current developments show that the pandemic is far from being defeated.”

On November 24, Germany also donated medical equipment to Vietnam, which included 75 ventilators, 15 monitors and 20,000 pulse oximeters at a total cost of 925,000 dollars.

Vietnam’s total number of coronavirus infections since the beginning of the pandemic has risen to over 1.4 million. Health authorities confirmed 15,349 new cases on Monday.

The South-East Asian country was repeatedly praised for its response to the pandemic last year, but it failed to contain the virus’ spread early this year, leading to the current Covid-19 wave.

As of December 14, Vietnam had administered a single Covid-19 vaccine dose to over 74 million people, out of a total population of 98 million. More than 58 million people are fully vaccinated.