Timely boost to vaccination drive

Mark of respect: Harris laying flowers at the Senator John McCain memorial site in Hanoi, where his Navy aircraft was shot down by the North Vietnamese, on the third anniversary of his death. — AFP

THE United States will provide an additional one million coronavirus vaccine doses to Vietnam, Vice-President Kamala Harris announced, offering additional aid to a country currently grappling with a fresh coronavirus surge and stubbornly low vaccination rates.

Harris, speaking at the top of a bilateral meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh yesterday, said that the doses would begin to arrive within the next 24 hours. That brings the total vaccine donation to Vietnam to six million doses from the United States.