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A medical staff prepares to inject Covid-19 vaccine into a person in Ho Chi Minh city on August 2, 2021. Photo: VnExpress

Vietnam records 8,752 Covid-19 cases

Vietnam recorded 8,752 new local Covid-19 cases in 33 localities Wednesday, up 367 cases from Tuesday.

Ho Chi Minh city led with 3,416 cases, down 540 from Tuesday. It was followed by Binh Duong province (1,897) and Dong Nai province (979), making its tally surpassing 10,000.

Hanoi recorded 40 cases, down 21 cases from Tuesday. HCMC has recorded over 133,100 cases in the fourth Covid-19 wave starting late April.

Vietnam's total number of infections since April 27 is 232,899, cited VnExpress.

4,806 people were discharged Wednesday, bringing the total in the current wave to 85,154.

342 deaths were recorded, bringing the total in the current wave to 4,487.

The country has vaccinated 11.3 million people, in which over one million have received two doses.

A group of startups on Wednesday donated 25 vaccine refrigerators to health authorities, each one capable of storing 160,000 doses.

HCM city negotiates to buy five million doses of Moderna vaccines

The Ho Chi Minh city’s People Committee has sent an urgent document detailing its plans to purchase five million doses of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine from Zuellig Pharma, the Moderna distribution partner in Vietnam.

The committee has assigned the Saigon Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Sapharco) and VinaCapital to conduct negotiations with Zuellig Pharma.

Currently, Sapharco has signed a document with basic terms and is now waiting for Moderna to hand over the draft contract and provisions regarding contract content confidentiality to Vietnamese partners in order to launch an official negotiation, reported VOV.

Providing that the contract is signed, five million doses of the Moderna vaccine will be transported to the nation during the fourth quarter of the year, or in the first quarter of next year.

The Ho Chi Minh city’s People Committee requests the Minister of Health to issue regulations on vaccination service prices. Photo: VOV

Vinacapital and Sapraco are therefore continuing to negotiate with Moderna and Zuellig Pharma as a means of providing at least two million doses in October and at least 10 million additional doses ahead in the second quarter of 2022.

The committee also requested permission from the Minister of Health to permit VinaCapital to implement public-private co-operation and issue detailed instructions relating to vaccinating people and paying for fees, in addition to regulations on vaccination service prices.

The committee put forward the suggestion that the Ministry of Health review other localities' Moderna vaccine demand to increase orders and speed up vaccine transfer and price reduction.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Health announced on August 11 that a batch of one million doses of Vero Cell vaccines which arrived in Ho Chi Minh city on July 31 passed quality-control checks. They have therefore been granted certificates by the National Institute for Control of Vaccine and Biologicals.

This marked the first batch out of five million doses of Vero Cell that Sapharco negotiated with Sinopharm.

Vietnam originally granted approval for the emergency use of the vaccine on June 4.

Vietnam to face only 2 rivals in AFC U23 Asian Cup 2022 qualifiers

Vietnam will have to compete against only Myanmar and Chinese Taipei in Group I of the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2022 qualifiers following a redraw at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on August 11.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said Hong Kong, which was initially placed in Group I during the draw on July 9, will join Japan and Cambodia in Group K.

Photo: VNA

Group I now comprises Vietnam, Myanmar and Chinese Taipei, according to VNA.

The redraw was conducted to maintain the balance of the number of teams across all groups in the East Zone following the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)’s withdrawal from the qualifying round.

The redraw consisted of one pot comprising all teams from Groups G to J, except the teams in position 1 of their respective Groups and the Host Teams in order not to affect the group balance and hosting arrangements already in place following the July 9 draw.

Eight teams were involved in the draw - Group G: China and Brunei; Group H: Timor-Leste and Philippines; Group I: Myanmar and Hong Kong; and Group J: Malaysia and Laos with the first team drawn moved to position 1 in Group K to replace the DPRK.

Vietnam are scheduled to meet Chinese Taipei on October 27 and Myanmar on October 30.

Hanoi-HCMC flights reduced to one a day

The Transport Ministry has rejected a proposal by aviation authorities to suspend all flights between Hanoi and HCMC, instead ordering only one a day.

The ministry also asked the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam to reduce the frequency of flights to Noi Bai International Airport as Hanoi imposes strict social distancing measures to curb the spread of the virus.

Last week, the aviation authority proposed freezing all regular flights between localities under social distancing orders, including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city, reported VnExpress.

A Vietnam Airlines aircraft at Noi Bai Airport, Hanoi, September 19, 2020. Photo: VnExpress

However, the ministry said the Hanoi-HCMC route affects socio-economic development and should therefore be kept operational.

Currently, flights from some airports in southern localities where lockdown measures are imposed, including Can Tho, Phu Quoc, Rach Gia and Con Dao are not allowed to land at Noi Bai.

Very few flights have been operating between Hanoi and epicenter HCMC since the capital mandated 14-day centralized quarantine for arrivals from 19 southern localities.

Hanoi authorities have decided to extend its ongoing social distancing order until Aug. 22 as a response to several Covid-19 clusters being detected in the capital.

In the ongoing Covid-19 wave that hit Vietnam in late April, the country has recorded nearly 229,000 infections, including 131,879 in HCMC and 2,143 in Hanoi.

US Air Force to transport 77 vaccine freezers to Vietnam

The 36th Contracting Squadron at Andersen Air Force Base in the US territory of Guam are poised to send a total of 77 ultra-low temperature freezers at a total value of US$691,000 to Vietnam.

This is part of the joint effort to partner with the Vietnamese Government in the fight against Covid-19.

The purchase of these freezers fulfills an official request made by the Vietnamese Government and the Vietnamese Ministry of Health to the US ahead of their acquisition of 31 million Pfizer-BioNtech Covid-19 vaccines which are set to arrive in the nation by August 30.

77 ultra-low temperature freezers will be transported to Vietnam by the 36th Contracting Squadron of the US. Photo: VOV

According to the website of the Air Force, the assistance will provide one unit to each of 63 Vietnamese localities, along with 14 larger units which can be used at a national level for Covid-19 vaccine storage.

“This acquisition shows the commitment of the US to the health and safety of Vietnamese by providing humanitarian relief to them during the Covid-19 pandemic,” Staff Sgt. Christian Luevano, 36th Contracting Squadron contracting officer, said on the website, reported VOV.

According to Sgt. Luevano, similar purchases typically take between 45 and 120 days to fully co-ordinate and process. However, he and his team have worked several late nights and weekends in order to to get the contract finalised in just under two weeks.

He added that the main challenge for the team was the shortened timeframe and co-ordination due to all parties being in different time zones.

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