speaks at the conference. (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long warned of the risk of a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections in the country at a meeting on March 26.
Speaking at an online training course on vaccination
safety held by the Ministry of Health, Long applauded efforts by the Government
and people in containing the third wave of the pandemic that began on January
27.
However, there is now a high risk of a new spike in
, given the complex developments of the epidemic in regional
countries, the minister said.
The long border line has made it hard for
the country to control entries and exits, he further explained, citing cases of people illegally entering Vietnam by sea and later testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, which were confirmed
by the ministry on March 26.
The ministry has required all localities that have detected entrants to immediately conduct tracing and quarantine, according to Long.
The official also asked localities nationwide to roll
out prevention and control measures in line with instructions of the
Government, while preparing facilities and resources for tracing, testing,
quarantine and treatment for timely responding once there is an outbreak.
In his remarks at the conference, which was connected
with more than 700 medical establishments and vaccination sites across the country, Long ordered
ensuring safety during the inoculation.
He further said the unexpected side effects of
in Vietnam had already been warned by the producer and the
World Health Organisation (WHO).
The minister emphasised the significance of ensuring public health safety during the elections of deputies to the 15th National
Assembly and all-level People’s Councils for 2021-2026, slated for May.
At the conference (Photo: VNA)
Regarding Vietnam’s access to COVID-19 vaccines, he
said the ministry has worked hard to negotiate with the world’s registered
vaccine producers like AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and Sputnik
V to buy vaccines. .
Vietnam initially expected to receive the first
tranche of 1.4 million doses of AstraZeneca via the WHO-led Vaccines
Global Access (COVAX) initiative in April, he said. However, due to some
objective reasons, the supply date would be delayed for nearly one month.
The ministry has also been in talks with countries
over cooperation in the production and development of vaccines in Vietnam, he
said, adding that since the second quarter of last year, Vietnam has stepped up
the research and production of COVID-19 vaccines. Two out of the four homegrown
vaccines have entered the phase of human trials.
At the conference, experts guided health workers in safe vaccination techniques as well as in how to quickly detect injection reactions and handle them.
The public health’s preparatory work in service of the upcoming elections
was also touched upon on this occasion./.
Source: VietnamPlus
