Croatia, Hungary help Vietnam battle COVID-19

Vietnamese Ambassador to Hungary Nguyen Thi Bich Thao received the token of 60,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine presented by the Croatian Government at a ceremony held in Budapest, Hungary on October 12.

AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine (Photo: AFP/VNA)
AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine (Photo: AFP/VNA)

At the handover ceremony, Croatian Ambassador to Hungary Mladen Andrlić affirmed that Croatia always treasures the traditional friendship with Vietnam and hopes to help the Southeast Asian nation to surmount the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ambassador Thao extended her thanks to the Croatian government and people for their support, underlining that the assistance serves as a proof of the countries’ time-honoured friendship.

Earlier, the Vietnamese diplomat received a token of 400,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine that the Hungarian Government transfer to Vietnam under a non-profit mechanism.

At the event, Deputy State Secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary István Joó underlined that Hungary stands ready to assist Vietnam, an important partner of the European country in Asia.

In September, Hungary presented Vietnam with 100,000 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and 100,000 antigen test kits.

National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines is set to send aircarft to bring the vaccine batch home on October 13, along with 12.5 tonnes of medical supplies worth US$ 380,000 donated by Vietnamese-Hungarian entrepreneur Vu Quy Duong, who is also head of the Vietnamese Association in Hungary.

The association has launched a campaign to support the COVID-19 fight at home since August and raised VND 850 million (US$ 37,360) to help frontline workers and pandemic-hit people in HCM City and Binh Duong.