Photo: VNA

Covid-19: More than 13,000 new infections, only 7 deaths recorded

Vietnam confirmed 13,271 new coronavirus infections in 61 cities and provinces across the country on April 20, a fall of 229 cases compared to the previous day. All the cases were locally acquired, with 10,436 cases, or more than two-thirds of the total, detected in the community, the Ministry of Health said in its coronavirus update.

Hanoi capital topped localities, registering 1,039 new cases. It was followed by Phu Tho, Bac Giang, Gia Lai, Quang Ninh, Vinh Phuc, Yen Bai, and Nghe An who reported between 500 and 800 cases each.

Localities that saw the number of infections decrease most compared to the previous day were Ho Chi Minh City (-378), Hai Duong (-187), and Yen Bai (-99). Meanwhile, localities that saw the number of infections rise most compared to the previous day were Gia Lai (+280), Lam Dong (+263), and Bac Giang (+243).

Photo: Thanh Nien

Agencies asked to speed up the issuance of vaccine passports

The Ministry of Health on April 19 asked vaccination facilities and health agencies to quickly complete the database of people vaccinated against Covid-19 by the end of this month so that they could get the vaccine passport. The ministry’s database contains details on millions of Covid-19 injections and the personal identification numbers of vaccinated people. However, the information has not been verified in the national database on population due to incorrect information about name or date of birth.

The ministry asked vaccination facilities and health agencies to review, correct and complete the database on Covid-19 vaccinations by April 30. Heads of vaccination facilities are directly responsible if the slow update of the database affects the issuance of vaccine passports. Also on April 19, the ministry asked the People’s Committees of provinces and cities to complete information relating to Covid-19 vaccinations required by the national database on population. The work must be completed by May 5, 2022.

The ministry also asked the People's Committees of provinces and cities, units under the management of the ministry to submit a list of officials in charge of Covid-19 vaccinations so that the coordination of vaccinations and issuance of vaccine passports could be done smoothly.

The health ministry began to issue vaccine passports on April 15. Vietnam’s vaccine passport follows standards issued by WHO and the EU which are being applied by 62 nations.

Photo: Vietnamnet

PM asks for efforts to complete Covid-19 vaccination for children

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has asked for stronger efforts to import Covid-19 vaccines to complete the target of giving second shots to children aged from 12-18 years old within April and children from 5 to under 12 years old within the second quarter of this year, enabling them to go to school safely.

He outlined major tasks and solutions in the time to come, including the improvement of preventive medicine and health care capacity at the grassroots level, and assigned specific tasks for ministries, sectors, and localities. The Ministry of Health was asked to submit a report to the Government within April on plans and scenarios to respond to the situation when new pandemic developments are seen, such as the appearance of new SARS-CoV-2 variants.

The PM also directed the Ministry of Health to continue studying the injection of the second booster dose for adults, especially high-risk groups such as the elderly, people with background diseases, workers in industrial parks and major cities, and promptly build a plan for the administration of the second booster dose for adults.

At the same time, it is necessary to continue to work on the domestic production of Covid-19 vaccines, medicines, and testing kits, along with building and popularising official guidelines for pandemic prevention and control as well as home treatment, he requested.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism were requested to coordinate with the Ministry of Health to give detailed instructions on the management and treatment of Covid-19 patients who are tourists, while working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Public Security, and Ministry of Finance to review visa policies as well as tourism and travel business regulations to boost tourism recovery and development. It is directed to prepare necessary conditions to ensure the success of the upcoming 31st Southeast Asian Games.

Vietnam Covid-19 Updates (April 20): 24-hour Count Totals Over 13,500 New Cases Since the start of the pandemic, Vietnam has logged a total of 10,489,319 infections, ranking 12th out of 227 countries and territories globally.

Vietnam Covid-19 Updates (April 19): Only 12,000 New Cases As many as 209.6 million Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered nationwide.

Vietnam Covid-19 Updates (April 19): Daily Tally Drops to Lowest Level in More Than Two Months On April 16, a total of 182,326 doses of Covid-19 vaccines were administered, raising the total number of inoculated vaccine doses to 209.4 million throughout ...