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Teresa Moreira (L), head of the UNCTAD's Competition and Consumer Policies Branch, and Ambassador Le Thi Tuyet Mai (R), Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and other international organizations in Geneva. Photo: VNA

Vietnam elected as vice chair of UNCTAD intergovernmental expert group’s meeting

Vietnamese Ambassador Le Thi Tuyet Mai has been elected as vice chairperson and rapporteur of a meeting of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva.

Mai, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the UN, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and other international organisations in Geneva, served as vice chair of the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Consumer Protection Law and Policy virtually held on July 5 – 6, cited VOV.

Delegates to the meeting exchanged views on the implementation of the UN’s guidelines on Consumer Protection Law and Policy and discussed challenges facing consumer protection authorities in developing countries amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

They also discussed post-pandemic economic recovery, and how to strengthen the UNCTAD’s role in supporting consumer protection authorities and to step up cooperation among countries in this area.

The UNCTAD working group on voluntary peer review exercises delivered a report assessing Chile’s consumer protection law and policy. Similar reports have also been done for Peru, Indonesia and Morocco.

Nationwide Coronavirus vaccination campaign officially launched

The nationwide Covid-19 vaccination campaign, the largest-ever immunisation drive in Vietnam, kicked off with a ceremony held on July 10.

Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said the campaign, to be conducted from July 2021 to April 2022, targeting people aged 18 and above, is the largest of its kind in the country, with the ultimate goal of protecting people’s health and lives and bring life back to normal early.

Under the Government and the Prime Minister’s directions, the Ministry of Health and relevant ministries and sectors have exerted every effort to acquire Covid-19 vaccines amid a global vaccine shortage, according to VNA.

So far, Vietnam has secured 105 million vaccine doses for this year and is working to get 150 million doses so as to achieve herd immunity in late 2021 or early 2022.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh talks to health workers at the campaign launch on July 10. Photo: VNA

This July, more than 8 million doses are set to be delivered to Vietnam, which is on time for the pandemic’s complex developments in Ho Chi Minh city and some other southern localities, Long added.

Addressing the launch, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said to help the country eliminate the pandemic, the Party and State are determined to carry out the vaccine strategy.

Particularly, the Covid-19 vaccine fund has attracted great support from people both at home and abroad and enterprises. It has so far received donations worth more than VND 8 trillion (US$348 million), which is being spent on purchasing vaccines for people, he noted.

The first vaccine doses arriving in Vietnam have been prioritised for frontline forces, and they have been distributed in a fair, equal, open, transparent, flexible, and effective manner, he remarked, elaborating that the previous vaccine batches were provided for workers and residents in Bac Ninh and Bac Giang, which were being hit hard by Covid-19 in the past few months, but vaccines are now prioritised for HCM City and nearby provinces where the pandemic situation is developing complicatedly.

Stressing the need for good coordination in vaccine distribution, PM Chinh said to implement the vaccine strategy, the Party and State will also step up domestic production and import of vaccines so as to secure vaccine supply for every year.

HCM city opens Covid-19 prevention and control command centre

The HCM city People’s Committee has established a 24/7 command centre for Covid-19 prevention and control consisting of 16 members led by the People’s Committee chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong.

The centre is in charge of giving advice and issuing guidelines, plans and measures to prevent and control the pandemic; receiving information on the pandemic to provide forecasts about the situation; and dealing with fake news.

People taking Covid-19 tests at hospitals and medical centres in HCM city began receiving their test results via the mobile application “Y Te HCM” on July 10. Photo: VNS

It will conduct research and consider proposals for purchase of equipment for Covid-19 prevention and control, offer training on the use of the equipment, and promote international cooperation on pandemic prevention and control, reported VNS.

The centre will make decisions on necessary measures if the city is being stretched beyond its capacity. For example, it may declare a Covid-19 emergency or implement a curfew.

In emergency situations, the centre can immediately mobilise forces, means and materials to support frontline forces in order to keep the situation stabilised.

Since July 10, hospitals and medical centres in the city have carried out Covid-19 testing and results via the mobile application “Y Te HCM”.

According to the city’s Department of Health, when people register for Covid test, their information is added to the health agencies’ system. The test results will be returned within three hours via the application.

In addition, health agencies have been told to help people check their results on smartphones and inform them that results confirmed by QR codes are equivalent to test result papers.

National immunisation management platform enables online registration for Covid-19 vaccination

Military-run telecom group Viettel on July 9 said the Covid-19 immunisation management platform, designated to serve the mass inoculation nationwide, is now ready for use.

The platform comprises four systems – an e-health record application, a portal for Covid-19 immunisation information, a system supporting national vaccination, and an MCC centre, with its database to be managed centrally and transparently.

Viettel developed e-health record application is available for download. Photo: VNA

People can register to get Covid-19 vaccine and track the vaccination record via the e-health record application and immunisation information portal, cited VNA.

The platform is expected to help speed up the nationwide vaccination campaign; increase its safety, effectiveness and transparency; and support the management, supervision and study of Covid-19 vaccination in Vietnam.

Before working on the platform, Viettel has operated a national immunisation system connecting about 14,000 vaccination centres across the country for six years.

The nationwide Covid-19 inoculation drive will be implemented in all 63 cities and provinces with 19,500 vaccination centres. The Ministry of Health expects at least half of Vietnamese aged 18 and above will be vaccinated against the coronavirus by the end of 2021, and more than 70 percent of the population will receive the vaccine by the end of the first quarter of 2022.

Vietnam to send 43-member delegation to Tokyo Olympics

Vietnam’s 43-member Tokyo Olympics 2021 delegation will include athletes, coaches and staff.

Among the members are 18 athletes: Nguyen Huy Hoang, Nguyen Thi Anh Vien (swimming), Thach Kim Tuan, Hoang Thi Duyen (weightlifting), Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy (judo), Hoang Xuan Vinh (shooting), Nguyen Tien Minh, Nguyen Thuy Linh (badminton), Nguyen Thi Tam, Nguyen Van Duong (boxing), Le Thanh Tung, Dinh Phuong Thanh (gymnastic), Truong Thi Kim Tuyen (taekwondo), Do Thi Anh Nguyet, Nguyen Hoang Phi Vu (archery), Quach Thi Lan (athletics) and Luong Thi Thao, along with Dinh Thi Hao (rowing), cited VnExpress.

Swimmer Nguyen Huy Hoang, one of the first Vietnamese athletes to grab a ticket to Tokyo Olympics. Photo: VnExpress

Vietnam originally had three slots for weightlifting at the Olympics this year, but due to a doping ban by the International Weightlifting Federation, one slot would be taken away. Since Thach Kim Tuan is the only male weightlifter, one of the two female lifters, Hoang Thi Duyen and Vuong Thi Huyen, had to stay home, although neither were involved in the doping scandal. The IWF on Wednesday removed Huyen from the Olympics list.

Over the past three years, four Vietnamese weightlifters have been banned for doping.

Tran Duc Phan, deputy director of the Physical Education and Sports Department and leader of the Vietnam delegation to Tokyo said it is one of the most special Olympic events, since the pandemic has affected hosts Japan as well as participating delegations, including Vietnam.

To guarantee safety in Tokyo, the Vietnam delegation as well as others will only be allowed to travel to permitted accommodation and training facilities. The Vietnam delegation will also have to quarantine for three days upon arrival in Japan and test negative for Covid-19.

The Tokyo Olympics will take place from July 18 to Aug. 13. The Vietnam delegation is set to go to Japan on July 13.

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