A resident in Tien Giang province receives a booster shot of Covid-19 vaccine. Photo: VNA

Covid-19: Vietnam records 20,076 new cases on April 15

A total 20,076 new cases of Covid-19 were recorded on April 15, down 2,936 cases from the previous day, according to the Ministry of Health.

Hanoi continued to report the highest number of infections on the day with 1,425 cases, followed by Phu Tho with 1,094 and Bac Giang with 935.

Besides, central Nghe An province added 53,858 cases to the national caseload after verifying information.

The national tally reached 10,394,533.

A total 6,417 Covid-19 patients were given the all clear on April 15, bringing the number of recoveries so far to 8,863,044.

There are 1,242 patients in critical conditions, while an additional 23 deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours, taking the total fatalities to 42,924, equal to 0.4 percent of the total caseload, cited VNA.

By April 14, the country had injected 209,101,297 doses of Covid-19 vaccines.

Vietnam-Australia trade turnover enjoys robust growth

Two-way trade turnover between the nation and Australia continued to increase sharply during the initial months of the year, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

Statistics show that Vietnamese export turnover to Australia in the first quarter of the year increased by 32.36% to US$1.38 billion against the same period from last year.

Most notably, coffee exports have seen the most impressive growth of 84%, while aquatic exports also grew by 51%. Rice exports continued to pick up amid Australia reducing rice imports from other countries.

Aside from agricultural products, advantageous Vietnamese industrial exports to Australia also recorded impressive growth, with iron, steel of all kinds, as well as rubber and electric cables, all witnessing rises of more than 500%, 41%, and 26%, respectively.

Vietnamese dragon fruit is put for sale at Australian supermarkets (Photo: Vietnamese trade office in Australia. Photo: VOV

Furthermore, Australia has emerged as a supplier of much-needed materials for Vietnam, including coal, iron ore, metal, cotton, wheat, and cattle feed, enabling the country to boost its production.

The Vietnamese Trade Office in Australia stated that it has ramped up a wide range of events aimed at strengthening connectivity between supply and demand, as well as trying to boost import-export activities with the ultimate aim of making contributions to the national economy, according to VOV.

This comes as the trade office has regularly provided updated information on Australian importers and current prices via its own e-commerce mobile app Viet-Aus in a bid to help local firms seek partnership more easily.

Last year witnessed total two-way trade turnover record strong growth, surpassing the figure of US$12.4 billion for the first time, representing a rise of over 49% compared to 2020.

Vietnam and Australia also completed the signing of the Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy in order to turn both countries into top trading partners.

Through the proper import and export structure, the two countries’ trade turnover is anticipated to grow steadily in the near future.

Vietnam begins to issue vaccine passports on April 15

The Health Ministry begins to issue vaccine passports on April 15 in line with schedule.Vietnam’s vaccine passport follows standards issued by WHO and the EU which are being applied by 62 nations.

The passport will be available on PC Covid-19 or Digital Health (So suc khoe dien tu) apps. If people don’t have the apps, they can get their passports by accessing the health ministry's portal and filling in necessary information. They will then receive the passports by email.

The passport template was revealed by the Health Ministry in December last year, which has 11 fields of information: name, date of birth, nationality, targeted disease, doses of vaccines received, date of vaccination, lot number of the vaccine batch, type of vaccine, vaccine product received, the vaccine manufacturer, and a code for the certification.

The name and date of birth will be integrated with other personal identification documents (passports or citizen identification cards).

Illustrative image. Photo: VNA

The information is encoded into a QR code, which will expire after 12 months. Following their expiry, people will be notified and a new QR code will be created instead.

So far Vietnam has reached mutual recognition of vaccine passport with 19 countries, namely Japan, the US, the UK, Australia, India, Belarus, Cambodia, the Philippines, Palestine, Maldives, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Turkey, Singapore, Saint Lucia, the Republic of Korea, Iran and Malaysia, reported VNA.

As of April 14, Vietnam had administered nearly 209 million vaccine doses, with nearly 100 percent of people over 18 having received full two shots and over 51 percent having received a booster shot. In the group age from 12 to under 18, 99.9 percent have got one shot and 95.3 percent full two shots.

Vaccination for children from 5 to under 12 started on April 14, and the children will also be granted vaccine passports like people in other age groups.

Vietnam - an important market for Singapore tourism

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) held an event to restart tourism activities, with the aim to introduce an update to the SingaporeReimagine program as well as regulations on intent to enter Singapore and promote entertainment places to Vietnamese tourists.

Accordingly, from April 1, Singapore will remove the isolation requirement for all visitors who have received their full dose of Covid-19 vaccine. This is the next phase in the opening schedule of this Southeast Asian island nation. The "Vaccinated Travel Framework" (VTF) program will replace the "Vaccinated Travel Lane" (VTL) with safety management regulations and simplified immigration procedures.

Under the newly implemented tourism model, visitors to Singapore no longer need to undergo testing upon entry.

Fully vaccinated persons and children under 12 years old are allowed to enter the country upon presentation of a certificate of Covid-19 test results performed within the 2 days prior to departure.

Speaking at the event in an online format, John Gregory Conceicao, STB's Executive Director of Southeast Asia, believes that now is the right time for the "lion island" to strongly promote the recovery of its tourism industry, cited NDO.

Vietnam is an important market for Singapore's tourism industry, with nearly 600,000 visitors in 2019. Photo: NDO

"Vietnam is an important market for Singapore's tourism industry, with nearly 600,000 visitors in 2019 - ranking 11th in the total number of visitors to Singapore." Sherleen Seah - Chief Representative of STB in Vietnam said.

John Gregory Conceicao shared that Vietnam has always been an important market for Singapore's tourism industry. The VTL agreement between the two countries was announced in mid-March this year. They are very excited that you can feel free to do so yourself and experience new services after the pandemic season, he added.

STB's Executive Director of Southeast Asia also expressed his belief that 2022 will be a year of hope, especially for the tourism industry.

Since Singapore began reopening through the Vaccinated Travel Corridor (VTL) Program in September 2021, demand for two-way travel has increased sharply in countries that have a VTL agreement with Singapore. Singapore welcomed 125,000 foreign visitors in the first two months of 2022 , a sharp increase from 330,000 in 2021.

The SingaporeReimagine campaign showcases various aspects of Singapore, from exciting tourist attractions and unique restaurant ideas to sustainable lifestyle wellness experiences.

Herd immunity yet to be achieved despite wide Covid-19 vaccine coverage

Due to the current developments relating to the Covid-19 pandemic it remains difficult to confirm whether or not the country has achieved herd immunity amid the possible appearance of fresh variants that can render vaccines ineffective.

This assessment was made by Associate Professor Dr Tran Dac Phu, senior advisor at the Public Health Emergency Operations Center under the Health Ministry.

A very high vaccination rate does not mean that herd immunity has been achieved, whilst not being vaccinated does not necessarily mean someone is infectious, according to him.

“There have appeared new strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the world, such as XE, which is a hybrid between BA.1 and BA.2 variants of Omircon or Deltacron hybrid between Delta and Omicron. Most of these strains spread about 10-20% faster than the old ones.

Associate Professor Dr Tran Dac Phu, senior advisor at the Public Health Emergency Operations Center under the Health Ministry. Photo: VOV

However, it is necessary to see how quickly the new variants spread and whether they cause severe symptoms and nullify current vaccines or not,” Dr Phu said.

All of these factors can contribute to overwhelm the health care system, leading to a high rate of severe patients, especially in the event that the number of deaths is uncontrollable, he continued.

Experiencing four pandemic waves, the country has to date gained plenty of experience in improving its ability to prevent and control the spread of the pandemic. Experts therefore recommend that the nation monitor pandemic developments globally, whilst closely following recommendations set by the World Health Organization (WHO) in order to have an accurate assessment and timely response to the pandemic.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the Covid-19 pandemic can be viewed as being very different from many other disease-causing viruses. In particular, immunity in people who have already been infected with Covid-19 will decrease after several months, whilst simultaneously there is still a risk of re-infection, reported VOV.

For vaccinated people, their immunity is reduced over time and they can still contract the disease, becoming a source of infection for others. This is different from other vaccines such as the measles vaccine or Japanese encephalitis vaccine as once vaccinated there will be complete immunity, Dr Phu analyzed.

Therefore, it can be difficult to discuss the concept of herd immunity in the context of the current Covid-19 pandemic. However, if vaccines with high and sustainable prevention effectiveness are available in the future, we will be able to control the pandemic with vaccines, just like how we had eradicated polio. In any case, a new variant appears and leaves current vaccines ineffective, it would be even more impossible to talk about herd immunity,” said Phu.

He also gave advice to citizens, according to which, personal preventive measures are hugely important in protecting themselves, their families, and the wider community.

The nation’s current effective control of the Covid-19 pandemic has so far proved the health capacity and anti-pandemic capacity of administrations at all levels, with both ministries and people seeing further improvements.

With its strategy on "living safely with the pandemic", the country has adapted to flexible Covid-19 prevention and control measures in a bid to ensure economic activities and social security go smoothly.

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