Photo: VGP

Over 12,000 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed as the mortality rate falls to single-digit

Vietnam has seen a continual fall in terms of the number of new daily Covid-19 infections, with 12,029 detected in 59 localities throughout the country, the Health Ministry said in its update on April 21. The number of fresh Covid-19 infections in Hanoi dropped below the 1,000 mark over the past 24 hours, with 986 new cases recorded. This is the first time in months that the number of F0 cases recorded on a daily basis in the capital has fallen to less than 1,000.

New transmissions dropped by 1,242 cases compared to the previous day’s figure to bring the total caseload in the country to more than 10.53 million since the start of the pandemic.

Notably, the number of deaths has also decreased to a single digit, with only 9 cases recorded on the same day, raising the nation's death toll since the pandemic started last year to 42,991, thereby accounting for 0.4% of the total caseload.

Photo: VGP

Almost 89,000 children from 5 to under-12 vaccinated against Covid-19 over one week

One week after the start of a campaign to vaccinate children from 5 to under-12 against Covid-19, a total of 88,820 children in the age group had received the first shot as of April 20. The Health Ministry has allocated over 2.3 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine for children to localities.

The northern province of Quang Ninh was the first locality in the country to inoculate children in the age group on April 14. In the capital city of Hanoi, a total of 33,382 doses have been administered to children in the target age group since April 16, with no cases of serious reactions reported so far. With more than 1 million children in the age group, Hanoi aims to have at least 95 percent of them fully vaccinated. The southern hub of Ho Chi Minh City is carrying out the vaccination campaign for 898,538 children from 5 to under-12 in the city from April 16 to 30.

In a recent online survey conducted by the Health Strategy and Policy Institute (HSPI) with the participation of 415,000 parents of children from 5 to under-15, 60.6 percent of the parents supported the vaccination of children, 7.6 percent said they would let their children get vaccinated if it is a requirement. Meanwhile, 29.1 percent said they are still considering the matter, and only 1.9 percent did not agree to let their children get vaccinated.

According to the Department of Preventive Medicine under the Health Ministry, there are approximately 11.8 million children from 5 to under-12 years old eligible for Covid-19 vaccination. Of them, about 8.2 million have not caught Covid-19. The health sector aims to provide full two shots to eligible children by the end of the second quarter.

Photo: Thanh Nien

Joint efforts made to speed up Covid-19 vaccination among children: Spokesperson

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has closely coordinated with the Ministry of Health to hold working sessions with COVAX, partner countries, and vaccine producers in order to speed up the supply of Covid-19 vaccines for children, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Le Thu Hang said on April 21.

Hang told a regular press conference held by the foreign ministry that the Australian Government has committed 12.8 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines for Vietnamese children, of which 4.6 million doses of Moderna have already arrived in the Southeast Asian country. The Netherlands has also pledged to give Vietnam 2 million doses of Moderna for the group, and France 2 million doses of Pfizer, expected to arrive in Vietnam this month.

The foreign ministry has maintained close coordination with the health ministry in negotiations with international organizations and partners to ensure vaccines for children, contributing to the inoculation target for children in the second quarter of this year in accordance with Government instructions, and meeting the hopes of parents that their children can be safe at school, Hang said.

Photo: VGP

Over 1 million people receive Covid-19 e-passports

Over 1 million Vietnamese people had received Covid-19 passports as of April 20 after six days the Ministry of Health (MoH) started to issue the certification through “So suc khoe dien tu” and “PC-COVID” apps. According to the Vice Director of the Medical Data Centre under the MoH’s Department of Information Technology Nguyen Ba Hung, the electronic vaccine passports are valid within 12 months from the issuance date. When it expires, a new QR code will be automatically generated.

The passports, which meet the standards of the World Health Organisation and the European Union, are being used in 62 countries and more in the time to come. As vaccination information of those people has been updated into the national vaccination system, they are not required to take any further procedures to receive the e-passport.

The MoH has asked its agencies and medical service suppliers of ministries and sectors to review and verify information of vaccinated people and make necessary adjustments before April 30, ensuring the accuracy of Covid-19 vaccination data. Meanwhile, localities are requested to complete this work before May 5. Leaders of vaccination units will bear the responsibility for any wrong Covid-19 vaccination information of the people, affecting the issuance of vaccine passports serving their international traveling and trading activities.

Vietnam Covid-19 Updates (April 21): More Than 13,000 New Infections On average 16,429 cases were recorded in Vietnam daily in the past seven days. As of 6 pm on April 20, Vietnam has confirmed more ...

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.