The AstraZeneca vaccines are meant for Ho Chi Minh City to immunize priority groups.

Receiving the consignment at Noi Bai Airport, Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said Vietnam is the first Southeast Asian nation to receive vaccine support from Japan.

"Vietnam is committed to using this batch of vaccines effectively and quickly. On Thursday the vaccines will be transported to HCMC to inject ... especially factory workers."

HCMC has been dealing with complicated pandemic developments with multiple clusters of unknown sources. The city recorded 99 local cases on Wednesday, its highest daily number since Covid-19 broke out in Vietnam.

Yamada Takio, the Japan ambassador to Vietnam, said his country wishes to cooperate with the international community to overcome the pandemic.

"Try your best, Vietnam, let’s beat the pandemic," he said.

With the new arrivals, Vietnam has around four million doses of vaccines now.

As of Thursday around 1.77 million people have got shots, mainly frontline Covid workers, with 72,325 getting two.

Vietnam aims to secure 150 million vaccine doses this year to cover 70 percent of its population.