Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien. Photo: VNA

Vietnam, US ensure continuity of goods supply chain

Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien recently held phone talks with US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to discuss bilateral economic and trade issues.

Dien, who is also Chairman of the Vietnam-US Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Council, suggested the US Department of Commerce enhance discussions to achieve progress in market economy recognition and give objective and fair opinions in line with the World Trade Organization (WTO)’s regulations in trade defense investigations.

The maintenance of goods supply, manufacturing activities and export-import are the top important priorities of the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade, Dien said, adding that Vietnam will step up vaccination, thus creating favorable conditions for firms to mobilize workers back to work, VNA reported.

About existing bilateral economic and trade issues, Dien stressed that Vietnam is ready to increase dialogues with the US to deal with them. He also hailed the US for offering opinions to further perfect existing legal framework.

Raimondo, for her part, said economy and trade remain a high priority under President Joe Biden’s policy, stressing that the US enterprises want to invest in many fields in Vietnam, with energy as a top priority.

The US will actively work with Vietnam to ensure the continuity of goods supply chain amid the complicated developments of the pandemic in the country, she said.

Dien suggested Raimondo convey his message to the US Government about giving further priority to assisting Vietnam in vaccines, accelerating the implementation of signed vaccine supply contracts, and facilitating vaccine production technology transfer.

Both sides expressed their belief that the bilateral ties will maintain stable growth momentum, with economic and trade collaboration as a focus and key driving force.

Over the past five years, Vietnam’s export to the US has surged by 230 percent while the US’s shipment to Vietnam has soared by over 175 percent. The US became Vietnam’s largest importer while Vietnam was the 10th biggest trade partner of the US.

Vietnam records 11,927 new cases

The Ministry of Health confirmed 11,927 Covid-19 local cases in 36 localities Saturday, pushing the domestic tally in the ongoing wave to 596,981.

Three localities with the highest numbers of cases were Ho Chi Minh City with 5,629 cases, Binh Duong with 3,971 cases and Dong Nai with 960 cases.

Of the day's tally, 5,169 cases were detected in the community with unclear sources of transmission while the rest had been contained in quarantine and lockdown areas.

The health ministry also confirmed 217 new Covid fatalities, including 188 in Ho Chi Minh City, which was the city's smallest daily death tally in 40 days, cited VnExpress.

Other deaths in the day were 10 in Binh Duong, four in Dong Nai, three in Kien Giang, two each in Tien Giang, Binh Thuan and Da Nang, and one each in Gia Lai, Can Tho, Ninh Thuan, Khanh Hoa, Nghe An and Vinh Long.

A medical staff checks on a Covid patient staying at home in Thu Duc City, HCMC, September 3, 2021. Photo: VnExpress

Dong Nai registered to the national database an additional 56 Covid deaths that it had recorded earlier.

The coronavirus death toll in Vietnam so far is 15,018, accounting for around 2.5 percent of all cases in the country.

12,541 Covid-19 patients were announced recovered, bringing the total tally of recovered cases so far to 363,462.

The average number of new cases in the country for the past seven days has been 12,867 a day while the national death rate over the past week has been 284 a day on average.

Over 27 million people have received at least one Covid-19 vaccine shot. Over 4.7 million people have been fully vaccinated.

Vietnam to receive 103 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines by year-end

More than 103 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines are expected to be delivered to Vietnam in the remaining months of the year, according to the National Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control.

It said Vietnam has reached agreements and signed contracts with donors and manufacturers to receive nearly 160 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines.

More than 34 million doses of different brands such as AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer, Sinopharm and Sputnik V have been delivered, and the approximately 103 million doses will be supplied to Vietnam in the coming four months.

Earlier Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu said approximately 30 million doses are likely to be delivered to Vietnam in September and October alone, reported VOV.

The Ministry of Health reported it has requested localities to speed up vaccination to increase the vaccination coverage and help halt the spread of the virus in the community.

As of September 10, nearly 27.2 million doses have been administered nationwide, including 1.17 million doses on September 9 alone, a record high figure.

Vietnam has received more than 20 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines donated by counties and channelled through COVAX. Photo: UNICEF

The MoH has conditionally approved seven Covid-19 vaccines for emergency use in Vietnam, namely AstraZeneca, Sputnik V, Janssen (Johnson&Johnson), Moderna (Spikevax), Pfizer (Comirnaty), Sinopharm (Vero Cell), and Hayat-Vax.

Data from the MoH show nearly 600,000 coronavirus infections have been confirmed across Vietnam since the virus recurred in late April. Daily caseload has hovered around 13,000 cases, mostly in southern localities especially Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong, the two largest coronavirus hotspots.

However, the infection rate in the community during the week decreased slightly compared to the previous week, with the rate in Da Nang down 60%, Binh Duong down 27%, and Long An down 3%.

Similarly, the mortality rate nationwide also decreased by 30%, of which Ho Chi Minh City recorded a 30% fall, Dong Nai 50%, Long An 30%, and Tien Giang 70%.

To date, 14,745 Covid-19 patients have died in Vietnam, making up 2.5% of the total number of infections and 0.4% higher than the average death rate globally.

Vietnam strives to achieve new normalcy in 2022

PM Pham Minh Chinh asked the Health Ministry to finalize the overall strategy on Covid pandemic prevention so Vietnam could return to 'new normalcy' next year.

Chairing a meeting Saturday, he demanded that hastiness be avoided in resuming production and business activities when the battle against the pandemic has produced initial positive signs.

Chinh assigned the health ministry to provide guidelines on easing restrictions and restoring activities based on the principle of "reopening step by step and under control."

People drive on Vo Thi Sau Street in District 3, HCMC, August 2021. Photo: VnExpress

The ministry is asked to finalize the pandemic prevention strategy focusing on vaccines, testing and treatment.

It must be proactive in preparing for vaccine supply in 2022 and secure Covid-19 vaccine doses for children.

Earlier, the PM ordered to vaccinate children so the new school year could begin safely; however, the health ministry said vaccination for people aged under 18 would only occur with more vaccine supply.

The idea of living with the virus was previously mentioned by Chinh who warned Vietnam could be facing a lengthy coronavirus battle and cannot rely indefinitely on lockdowns and quarantines, according to VnExpress.

The first priority in the coming time is to reduce Covid deaths and control the pandemic.

"No citizen is safe when there are still people contracting the virus and no locality is safe if other places still have to fight the pandemic," the PM said.

He stated among 23 localities imposing strict social distancing measures, eight have contained the outbreak while Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong, epicenters of the ongoing wave, "have made more efforts and the situation is changing positively."

So far, Vietnam has received 34 million Covid-19 vaccine doses. The country has vaccinated more than 27 million people with at least one shot, with over 4.7 million people having been double-vaccinated.

The country is expected to receive an additional 103 million doses of Covid vaccines by the end of this year as the government strives to inoculate 70 percent of its 96-million population in order to achieve herd immunity by April next year.

Vietnam to evacuate more than 330,000 residents as typhoon Conson nears

Vietnam’s central coastal provinces have developed plans to evacuate a total of 331,392 residents from flood-prone areas before typhoon Conson makes landfall on September 12.

Quang Nam is expected to move 172,373 people to safer grounds, while its neighbors Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue will evacuate 67,000 and 70,000 people respectively. Elsewhere, Da Nang and Quang Ngai will also evacuate more than 80,000 people, cited VOV.

The information was unveiled at an online meeting on September 11 between the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control and relevant ministries, sectors and coastal provinces from Quang Tri to Quang Ngai.

Mai Van Khiem, deputy director of the national Centre of Hydro Meteorological Forecasting, reported Conson would be downgraded before it pounds central coastal localities on September 12.

Though Conson is yet to make landfall, strong winds and high tidal surges have damaged parts of the sea embankment system in Da Nang city. Photo: VTC

At 1 p.m. on September 10, the typhoon was churning around the waters about 140km off the central coast with winds gusting 90kph. In the next 24 hours, Conson will move west at a speed of 5-7kph and head toward the mainland from Thua Thien-Hue to Quang Ngai.

Though Conson is yet to make landfall, strong winds and rainfall of 100-250mm were recorded from coastal localities from Thua Thien-Hue to Binh Dinh on September 10. The typhoon also caused sea surges of 4-5m high and winds gusting 75kph.

It is expected that Conson will bring heavy rain from now to September 13 to coastal provinces from Quang Tri to Quang Ngai, with rainfall likely to climb as high as 200-300mm, or even over 350mm.

Weather forecasters warned about risks of flooding in 40 districts of provinces from Ha Tinh to Quang Ngai, and risks of flash floods and landslides in low-lying and mountainous areas of Quang Tri, Hue, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai and Kon Tum provinces.

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