Photo: VN Express

New Covid cases on November 4 top 6,580

November 4 saw the number of infections increase by 401 over the previous day, including 2,889 detected among the community.

The three places to record the highest numbers of new cases were Ho Chi Minh City with 981, the southern province of Binh Duong with 948, and Dong Nai province with 939. Hanoi reported an additional 100 new cases, including 60 community cases and 40 found in isolation and lockdown areas.

A further 1,731 patients were given the all-clear. The country saw 59 deaths from the disease.

Photo: VN Express

Four countries recognize Vietnam's vaccine passport

The US, the UK, Japan, and Belarus have officially accepted Vietnam's vaccine passport, while others are waiting for the country to use a consistent template. The four countries made their decisions in early November, with specific certifications regarding the vaccine types, Pham Thu Hang, deputy spokeswoman of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, said at a press meet Nov. 4.

India has also agreed in principle; while China, South Korea, and countries in ASEAN and the European Union are in the process of reviewing and waiting for Vietnam to come up with a consistent vaccine passport template. The foreign ministry is discussing ways to accelerate mutual recognition of each other’s vaccine passports with around 80 partner countries, Hang said.

She said Vietnam has temporarily recognized the vaccine certificates of 72 countries and territories. People from these countries can use them directly in Vietnam and have their quarantine duration reduced to seven days in line with the Health Ministry’s guidelines for those who have been fully vaccinated or have recovered from Covid-19.

Vietnam accepts all types of vaccines that have been recognized by the World Health Organization, the US CDC, the European Medicines Agency, and the Ministry of Health. The template for vaccine passports needs to be issued both digitally and in a hard copy and it needs to bear a verification code. The issuing countries and territories need to have a high safety index and a high rate of vaccination. Citizens from countries and territories that have not officially introduced their vaccine certificates or proof of recovery to Vietnam may contact Vietnamese representative missions in their own countries to validate these documents or seek assistance.

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Covid-19 rate soars in Mekong Delta province after reverse migration

The Covid-19 infection rate in Bac Lieu Province has jumped 10 times after many people returned from places previously hardest hit by Vietnam’s latest outbreak. In the past 24 hours, the province has recorded 250 cases, raising the total number of cases in the fourth wave that started in late April to 4,480, 10 times higher than the figure recorded a month ago.

With the outbreak deemed under control in HCMC and the three provinces, all major industrial hubs that attract hundreds of thousands of workers from other parts of the country, social distancing measures were eased in early October, triggering a reverse migration of workers returning to their hometowns. The returnees have made direct contact with their family members and neighbors and the people that have potentially been exposed to Covid-19 have continued to spread it to the community, especially among people working in factories and workshops.

Bac Lieu is preparing plans to treat 5,000 patients, but it needs support both in human resources and medical equipment. For now, the province is capable of treating 100 critical cases, but if more patients turn severe, there will be a shortage of ventilators.

Photo: Zing

COVAX to allocate over 9 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to Vietnam

The COVAX Facility has decided to allocate more than 9 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to Vietnam and will consider delivering them as soon as possible. Aurélia Nguyen, Managing Director of the Office of the COVAX Facility was speaking this during a meeting with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on November 3 afternoon (local time) in Paris.

In the spirit of international solidarity and responsible contribution to combined efforts to end the pandemic soon, the Vietnamese cabinet leader announced that the Vietnamese Government decides to make a voluntary contribution of an additional US$ 500,000 to COVAX, raising the country's total contributed funding to COVAX up to US$ 1 million.

COVAX Managing Director was appreciative of Vietnam's rapid and effective vaccination over the past time and said that right after the phone call with PM Chinh on September 20, COVAX had accelerated the vaccine distribution to the nation. COVAX will continue to accompany Vietnam in pandemic prevention and control, by providing more vaccines and technical support for vaccination, and boosting coordination in finding vaccine sources under the cost-sharing mechanism, she added.

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