The freezers are the first of 111 ultra-low temperature, medical-grade storage units worth approximately $1 million that the U.S. Department of Defense is providing to Vietnam, the U.S. Embassy said in a statement.

With a capacity of minus 40 degrees Celsius to minus 90 degrees Celsius, the freezers can store vaccines that require extremely cold temperatures, including the Pfizer vaccine, which must be stored at minus 70-80 degrees Celsius.

Of the 77 freezers originally offered to Vietnam, 14 will remain at the NIHE for national-level distribution and 63 sent to regional distribution centers throughout the country. An additional 34 units have been requested by the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City.

The U.S., the world's largest donator of Covid vaccines, has gifted 9 million doses to Vietnam so far.

Over 55.2 million people in Vietnam have received at least one Covid-19 vaccine shot to date and more than 16 million people have been fully vaccinated.