Vietnam News Today (July 21): HCM City Works On Covid Vaccination Plan For Foreigners
	Vietnam News Today (July 20): Local Covid Vaccine Covivac Proves Effective Against Virus
	Vietnam News Today (July 19): Hanoi Tightens Covid Restrictions, Bans Public Gatherings Over 5 People

Extensive testing is being accelerated in HCM city to early detect and isolate positive cases. Photo: VOV

HCM city to enforce stricter restrictions as Covid-19 cases surge

HCM city has been implementing a two-week social distancing order since July 9 to slow the spread of the virus, but the number of new infections remains very high at approximately 2,000 each day.

Data from the Ministry of Health show after 10 days of implementing the measures, the number of infections per day in the busiest and most populous city in Vietnam has kept rising. On July 18 alone, the city documented a record high of 4,692 infections.

The implementation of the social distancing measures has yet to meet expectations, Nen told a meeting in HCM city on July 20 afternoon.

He said the city is consulting experts and relevant ministries to introduce tougher restrictions in order to achieve the set goal of curbing the spread of the virus in the community.

The HCM city leader expressed hope the city will receive greater support and additional assistance from the Government, the Ministry of Health, relevant ministries and agencies to the Covid-19 fight in the locality, cited VOV.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam shared difficulties the city is experiencing, quoting Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long as saying the fresh outbreak is still very complicated and the number of infections is expected to rise in the coming days.

“Strict isolation is the best measure right now to slow the spread of the epidemic,” said Dam, who is also head of the National Steering Committee on Covid-19 Prevention and Control.

He suggested that the city soon separate all F0 cases from the community and speed up the testing campaign to early detect and isolate positive cases.

“The most important thing for the city right now is to reduce the number of F0 infections and severe cases to limit deaths,” Dam said.

He suggested that the Ministry of Health give top priority to the provision of medical supplies to HCM City.

Dam said he had directed the Ministry of Health to urgently apply a special procurement mechanism to create maximum conditions for frontline localities to get medical supplies for Covid-19 prevention and treatment, especially for emergency resuscitation.

HCM city has recorded more than 39,000 Covid-19 cases since the resurgence of the virus in late April, making up more than half the country’s total number of infections, and becoming the largest coronavirus hotspot in the country.

Vietnam produces first batch of Sputnik V Covid vaccine

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and VABIOTECH, one of the leading Vietnamese pharmaceutical companies, unveiled on July 21 that the initial test batch of the Russian-developed Sputnik V vaccine against Covid-19 has been produced in Vietnam.

The first validation samples which have been taken from the produced batch are set to be shipped to the Gamaleya Center to undergo quality control.

Sputnik V was initially approved for emergency use in Vietnam by the Ministry of Health on March 23. The vaccine has been registered in 68 countries globally, covering over 3.7 billion people, or roughly half of the world’s population.

Data show the vaccine has been used in Argentina, Serbia, Bahrain, Hungary, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, the Philippines, and many others, proving it is safe and effective against Covid-19.

Rusia's Sputnik V vaccine proves to be more than 97% effective against COVID-19, acccording to the developer. Photo: Reuters

Sputnik V is based on a proven and well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors which makes use of two different vectors for the two shots in a course of vaccination, thereby providing immunity with a longer duration than vaccines which make use of the same delivery mechanism for both shots, reported VOV.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, stated that the RDIF and VABIOTECH are actively co-operating in the technology transfer process in order to provide easier access to Sputnik V for the Vietnamese population.

As the pandemic is far from over, whilst new and more dangerous variants of Covid-19 are being detected in various regions worldwide, the RDIF is striving to increase its capacity for production of Sputnik V in order to speed up the vaccination process, he noted.

Meanwhile, Dr. Dat Tuan Do, president of VABIOTECH, expressed his great pleasure at working alongside the RDIF to bring Sputnik V to Vietnamese citizens and boosting the nation’s ongoing fight against the pandemic.

He voiced his hope that continued co-operation between the RDIF and VABIOTECH will serve to provide quality and affordable Covid-19 vaccines to Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries.

Sputnik V is the world's first Covid-19 vaccine. Russian scientist Denis Logunov, who is considered as the leading developer of the Sputnik V vaccine, said in a real assessment based on the data of 3.8 million people, that the vaccine was 97.6% effective against Covid-19.

The Gamaleya Institute revealed on June 29 that the Sputnik V vaccine is also roughly 90% effective in preventing against the Delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus which was first identified in India ans has spread to more than 100 countries worldwide.

Government sets up Covid-19 special working group

The Government has decided to establish a special working group to carry out Covid-19 prevention and control tasks.

The working group will be located in Ho Chi Minh city, which is the country’s largest Covid-19 hotspot, and directed by the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control.

The working group will be led by Deputy Minister of National Defence Vo Minh Luong. The deputy heads of the group is Deputy Minister of Public Security Le Quoc Hung and Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son.

Workers install a temporary hospital in District 7, HCM city. Photo: VnExpress

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, Head of the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control, continues to direct the working group's activities and directly reports to the Prime Minister.

The decision is part of the Government's special resolution on the prevention and control of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to VNA.

The Government believes that the pandemic is spreading rapidly in many localities across the country, especially in HCM city. Therefore, the Prime Minister has agreed to apply social distancing according to Directive No 16 in 19 southern provinces and cities to soon prevent and reverse the pandemic.

The Government reckons that the following disciplines in pandemic prevention and control measures by some State agencies and some people have not been strictly enough. Goods transportation and circulation activities between localities that have distanced themselves from others are still limited.

The supply of goods, especially food and essential necessities for people in localities, where the social distancing order is implemented, is still not sufficient. Ministries, branches and localities are not working closely enough. Some localities have not yet met the requirements of the local pandemic prevention and control capacity.

Based on this information, the Government, the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control, ministries and branches have reiterated their instruction and monitoring requirements forcefully in HCM city and several southern provinces.

National broadcaster acquires last-minute screening rights for Tokyo Olympics

VTV has announced the purchase of broadcasting rights for the Tokyo Olympics, with two days left until the event.

In the announcement, the national broadcaster stated: "VTV has reached an agreement with a partner on Olympic broadcasting rights. Currently, VTV is rushing to complete the work with partners and will soon reveal the broadcasting schedule."

The giant Olympic rings are seen behind Japan's national flag amid the coronavirus disease outbreak, at the waterfront area at Odaiba Marine Park in Tokyo, Japan, August 6, 2020. Photo: Reuters

The Tokyo Olympics will take place from July 23 to Aug. 8 in Japan. The world’s biggest sporting event is held every four years with the participation of top athletes, cited VnExpress.

During the past three years, VTV has made efforts to negotiate Olympic broadcasting rights.

Initially, the price offered was 20 times higher than that for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Due to disagreements, both sides failed to seal the deal.

Fortunately, by July 21, the negotiation process ended with VTV officially holding the right to broadcast the Tokyo event in Vietnam.

Vietnam’s Olympic delegation consists of 43 members, including 18 athletes competing in 11 sports.

Vietnam wins two honourable mention certificates at FIAP contest

The Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists (VAPA) has brought home two honourable mention certificates in the print and digital categories at the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP)’s 29th Colour Biennial, the association has announced.

The two certificates were presented to two photo collections themed ‘Traditional Crafts’ in the print section and ‘Vietnam Viewed from Above’ in the digital session.

‘Traditional Crafts’ comprises 10 photos, while ‘Vietnam Viewed from Above’ is a collection of 20 photos, both taken by different photographers.

Regarding individual photo awards, Vietnamese photographer Dzung Nguyen won an honourable mention certificate for his photo entitled ‘Phoi Chieu Coi’ (Drying sedge mat), which is one of the ‘Traditional Crafts’ collection, according to VNA.

‘Phoi Chieu Coi’ (Drying sedge mat) by Dzung Nguyen. Photo: VAPA

Biennials is one of the most important events offered by FIAP. They are organised every two years in a different member country. Even years for Black and White and Nature Biennials, odd years for the Colour Biennial.

Biennials have a very particular characteristic, different from the international contests. It is not only the quality of the individual work that counts, but FIAP ask for coherent collections, as well of the viewpoint of inspiration and conception as form the viewpoint of execution and presentation.

The 29th FIAP Colour Biennial 2021 was held in France. Each member federation can select their own works or collections for submission, with a title for the collection being mandatory.

The entries were limited to 10 photographs in the colour prints section and 20 works in the digital colour images section.

The UK was named as the winner in the print section for its collection ‘Minimalistic Landscapes’ while Russia was crowned in the digital section for the collection ‘On the nature of female beauty’.

Vietnam’s entries to the contest were selected from nearly 760 artworks by 200 photographers by the VAPA.

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