Vaccination against COVID-19 in some localities fails to meet requirements: Acting Health Minister

People get vaccinated against (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – The speed of in some
localities has not yet met the required progress, especially the injection of the
3rd and 4th shots for people aged over 18 and for children from five to under 12
years old, said on August 2.

Speaking at a teleconference with 63 provinces and cities,
and ministries and sectors on intensifying epidemic prevention and control and
vaccination against COVID-19, Lan said that the communication work to mobilise and
encourage people to participate in pandemic prevention and control, especially
vaccination, is not really effective, while resources for pandemic prevention
and control have not been guaranteed, and the shortage of drugs and medical
supplies occurs in many places.

According to the ministry, currently, the COVID-19 pandemic
and other infectious diseases such as seasonal flu, dengue fever, and
hand-foot-mouth disease are basically controlled nationwide. The ministry is
also keeping a close watch on developments of and other emerging
dangerous infectious diseases in the region and the world.

Nguyen Luong Tam, Deputy Director of the Preventive Medicine
Department, said that in the first seven months of this year, Vietnam recorded
over 9 million COVID-19 cases, accounting for 83.9% of the total, of whom over
8.5 million recovered fully. However, since the end of March, the pandemic has
been well controlled across the nation.

As of July 31, the country had administered over 245.7
million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

Since the beginning of this year, over 136,000 cases of
dengue fever and 45 fatalities have been reported.

However, no cases of Monkeypox, acute hepatitis and other
group A infectious diseases have been recorded in Vietnam nationwide.

In the last months of 2022, the Ministry of Health requires
localities to closely monitor the diseases, especially the appearance
of new variants; intensify surveillance, early detection and timely treatment
of infections, limit the number of severe cases, and better disease prevention
and control at border gates./.