Vietnam now has sufficient resources for the purchase of 150 million doses of the Covid vaccine and extend the rollout to the entire population.

This is according to the President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee, Do Van Chien.

The VFF Central Committee hosted an event in Hanoi this week to promote the initial use of the donations received through the text-to-donate campaign, launched as part of the fight against coronavirus, says the Vietnam News agency.

The campaign was unveiled at the beginning of June by the VFF Central Committee, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour, and the Ministry of Information and Communications.

Up to now, 2.5 million texts have been received by the National Humanitarian Portal, donating 115 billion Vietnamese Dong (VND) - close to US$5 million - to the government’s coronavirus vaccination fund.

As such, thanks to the donations from the text-to-donate campaign, along with more than 8 trillion VND transferred to the fund, as well as State budget funding, Vietnam now has sufficient financial resources to administer 150 million doses of the Covid vaccine to the population, Chien stated.

The Central Committee President thanked businesses, philanthropists, the Vietnamese people both at home and overseas, as well as foreigners in the country for taking part in the donation drive.

Chien added he was confident the VFF Central Committee would receive further support to help in the fight against the pandemic, which still needs considerable financial resources.

To date, Vietnam has secured 105 million doses for 2021, and hopes to achieve herd immunity with the 150 million doses by the end of the year or early 2022.

Around 8.7 million vaccine doses are set to arrive in Vietnam this month.