VPOTUS Harris inaugurates CDC Southeast Asia office

Furthermore, Washington's vaccine donations are now at six million.

US Vice President Kamala Harris launched the Southeast Asian office of America's Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention on 25 August in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The regional CDC hub aims to enhance health cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations when the countries are reeling from soaring COVID-19 infections driven by the highly contagious Delta strain.

"Our partnerships in Southeast Asia are of mutual importance to the health of our people, the strength of our economies, and our collective security,"  Harris said on Twitter during her visit to Vietnam as part of her first official tour of Southeast Asia. She was in Singapore prior.

A White House news release stated the CDC office will advance global health security by maintaining a sustainable presence in the region, enabling a rapid and effective response to health threats, and reinforcing CDC's core mission of protecting Americans.

The news release also mentioned how Harris announced an additional one million coronavirus vaccine doses for Vietnam, taking Washington's total donation to the country to six million. Washington will also provide $23m to help Vietnam boost access to vaccines.

Vietnam's deputy prime minister and health ministers from ASEAN members and Papua New Guinea watched as Harris inaugurated the CDC office in Hanoi.