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Nanogen, the developer of Nano Covax, has proposed the Ministry of Health approve its Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use in Vietnam. Photo: VOV

Vietnam yet to license Nano Covax Covid-19 vaccine for domestic use

The Ministry of Health (MoH) will license Nano Covax, the locally-produced Covid-19 vaccine, for domestic use in the event that the vaccine gathers full scientific data, according to a MoH official.

Dr. Nguyen Ngo Quang, deputy director of the MoH’s Sci-tech and Training Department, made the statement following Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology JSC proposing that its Covid-19 vaccine Nano Covax receive approval for emergency use locally.

“The licensing of a vaccine for emergency use depends on many factors, and the MoH needs scientific data before it makes a decision,” Dr. Quang said.

He noted that Nanogen’s Nano Covax vaccine has yet to pass through all phases of tests in order to prove it has immunogenicity and provides effective protection and safety, cited VOV.

At present, Nanogen is in the process of carrying out the third phase of human clinical trials, with approximately 1,000 out of 13,000 registered volunteers being given their first shot of the vaccine so far.

According to details given by Dr. Quang, with 1,000 people inoculated, this represents only a small number compared to the millions of people who will go on to receive the vaccine in future.

The health official therefore stressed that in case Vietnam is not able to access vaccine imports ahead in August and September, then the MoH’s scientists will move to evaluate the results of Nanogen’s third phase and grant approval for Nano Covax to be used domestically in the event of an emergency.

“The Ministry of Health and I myself fully support the research and development of local vaccines to ensure supply sources for domestic use, and it is only approved in case of emergency,” said Dr. Quang, “But if we are able to access imported vaccines such as Pfizer, Moderna, Sputnik V and others approved by the World Health Organisation, priority will be given to import sources.”

Transmission sources unknown for many Ho Chi Minh city Covid-19 patients

Many new Covid-19 cases detected in Ho Chi Minh city recently are of people visiting hospitals seeking treatment for other health problems, meaning their transmission sources are unclear.

The number of daily cases in HCMC has kept passing the 130 mark for over a week now, making up the highest number of cases reported nationwide.

Part of the cases are related to clusters the city has identified, but more than a few have only been detected after patients visited local hospitals for health examinations and a screening step later revealed they’d contracted the new coronavirus.

A man walks a bicycle past the Saigon General Hospital in HCMC's District, June 22, 2021. The hospital is currently locked down as linked to at least five Covid-19 cases. Photo: VnExpress

Over the past two weeks, the city has been detecting new infections without clear sources of transmission every day.

It means the virus has spread quietly in the community, according to the city’s Center for Disease Control, reported VnExpress.

Truong Huu Khanh, consultant at the infectious diseases department at HCMC Children’s Hospital No.1, said the continuous detection of new cases through spontaneous medical examinations at hospitals shows that the anti-Covid-19 strategy adopted so far, which is locating, isolating and conducting mass testing in affected areas, is not enough.

He proposed an adjustment that allows local people to get the coronavirus test as soon as they wish, such as at medical centers in the ward and district where they live, instead of going all the way to some big hospitals and getting the test via their regular screening step.

With more hospitals detecting infections in the new outbreak, many people are now hesitant to visit hospitals and therefore, by the time they develop Covid-19 symptoms and seek medical checks, it is already too late for effective contact tracing.

"If the process of tracking down the source of transmissions and all those who have come into contact with a Covid-19 patient begins only after the latter is found positive, it will not be possible to deal with the outbreak thoroughly," Khanh said.

HCMC is facing its most challenging disease outbreak ever.

Excited but anxious: Hanoi business owners reopen

Though they eagerly reopen after being closed for 27 days due to the Covid-19 outbreak, many Hanoi businesses are also worried about changing consumer behaviors.

After Hanoi authorities announced that indoor dining and hairdressing can resume on Tuesday, Bui Quang Hung, co-founder of barber shop chain 30Shine, showed his excitement with a post on social media saying, "see you Hanoians on Tuesday morning."

He said the shops would open from 7.30 a.m. until late night to clear a backlog of almost a month.

"Men have to visit the barber once every three weeks on average because they feel irritated if their hair is one to two centimeters too long."

There would be two or three times the usual number of customers for two weeks, he said based on his experience from previous waves.

Closed restaurants inside a shopping mall in Ha Dong district, Hanoi, June 20. Photo: VnExpress

But some other businesses are less hopeful, VnExpress reported.

Trieu Nguyen Quan, owner of the Goofoo Gelato chain of ice cream shops, does not expect many customers for 10 days after reopening since people are afraid of the pandemic.

Hoang Tung, CEO of fast-food restaurant chain Pizza Home, said the outbreak could cause him to lose a number of customers since people have adopted a new habit of eating at home.

To survive the stop-start nature of their business amid the pandemic, many have sought to improve their business model. Tung said Pizza Home has closed some stores that were not doing well but has expanded into home delivery and apps.

Goofoo Gelato too has managed to pull on thanks to online sales.

Quan said he plans to increase the number of outlets but only after vaccination. He said vaccination is the only way to make him feel secure and the ultimate solution for businesses to open and the economy to revive.

Vietnam sets up technological centers to combine healthcare, ICT to fight Covid-19

The establishment of technological centers at central and local levels will help connect knowledge and experience of the health care and ICT sectors in deploying measures to prevent and control Covid-19.

A new approach for Covid-19 prevention and control has been defined by the PM, which is a harmonious, reasonable and effective combination of prevention and attack. Attacking is the important and breakthrough solution, while preventing is a regular, strategic, long-term and decisive measure.

On June 4, the national technology center for Covid-19 prevention and control was established with nine core members who are healthcare and technology experts.

Photo: VNN

The center has two major tasks, including gathering technology and knowledge forces, uniting the strength of forces; and synthesizing data, applying big data analysis technologies and artificial intelligence in analyzing, processing and forecasting the pandemic situation.

The center runs with close cooperation of leading experts in the healthcare and ICT sectors, as well as the participation of Vietnam’s leading technology firms.

In order to ensure a quick response to the complicated developments of the pandemic, the center operates under a flexible model, with key members and the Help Team always at a high 24/7 level of availability to handle all situations related to problems related to technology solutions as well as traceability, according to VNN.

According to the center’s representative, just after 10 days of operation, the center has completed the integration of information systems to support pandemic prevention and control. The system is capable of supporting tens of thousands of people tracing infections at wards and communes and serving millions of users.

“If localities strictly observe MOH’s instructions on using health declaration apps and detecting close contacts, if business points, working offices and entertainment places, head offices of agencies and crowded locations all control the entry/exit with QR Code, the information systems will help trace and localize F0 and F1 cases quickly, just in seconds or minutes,” he said.

Vietnamese lychees reach EU consumers through e-commerce platform

More than three tonnes of Bac Giang lychees have been exported to the EU via the local trading platform Voso and have since passed through customs clearance at Germany’s Frankfurt airport, according to the Department of E-Commerce and Digital Economy.

This marks the first time that Vietnamese agricultural products have successfully met the global Good Agricultural Practices (GlobalGAP) standards and been exported to the EU market through the cross-border e-commerce platform, cited VOV.

Photo: VOV

The move is the result of a co-operation scheme devised between the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and Viettel Post’s Voso trading floor, aiming to gradually develop cross-border e-commerce platforms for local businesses.

Dang Hoang Hai, director of the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy, stated that Vietnam has now exported fruit and agricultural products to numerous European and Asian countries, including exports through a B2C e-commerce model via global e-commerce platform Amazon.

The successful export of Bac Giang lychees through Voso Global's cross-border e-commerce method is considered to be a remarkable step towards bringing high-quality fresh agricultural products to the EU market.

Sharing this viewpoint, Tran Trung Hung, general director of Viettel Post Joint Stock Corporation, said Voso is expected to become the leading e-commerce trading floor which introduces additional agricultural products via cross-border e-commerce platforms that can fully meet the demands of both foreign consumers and Vietnamese expatriates.

The Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy has supported Voso trading floor to create Vietnamese and English versions of their website.

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