People wait for COVID-19 vaccinations in Hanoi (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNS/VNA)
– The number of patients being treated for COVID-19 at the Central Hospital for
Tropical Diseases has increased over the last two weeks, with many of them in a
serious condition.
Pham Van Phuc, deputy
head of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) under the hospital, said that the
hospital was treating about 70 patients.
Severe patients are
treated in the ICU, while those with moderate symptoms are treated on the
Virology – Parasitology Ward. Both areas are separated from regular patients.
The ICU is now full of
beds to treat patients with COVID-19.
“The has 25
patients, most of them need ventilation and oxygen masks. Most are elderly and
have underlying diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,
bronchial asthma, cardiovascular disease or HIV,” said Phúc.
He added that elderly
patients or those with underlying conditions can worsen quickly. The treatment,
therefore, was very difficult because it was related to the underlying disease.
Explaining the recent
increase, Phuc said that it was because of two main reasons.
Firstly, units treating
COVID-19 in different provinces have been gradually closed as the number of
cases nationwide declined. As a result, remaining patients were moved to the
.
Secondly, the third dose
of the vaccine was given about six months ago, meaning antibodies provided by
the vaccine have decreased. People are now at high risk of re-infection and
severe conditions when infected.
Nguyen Trung Cap, deputy
director of the hospital, said that all under treatment had
either refused to get the vaccine, or did not receive sufficient booster doses.
Phuc said that the
fourth booster dose is important in supplementing people’s resistance.
Booster doses are
especially important for high-risk people such as the elderly and people with
underlying diseases.
He said a study in
Israel conducted on over 182,122 people who were over 60 years old showed that
the second booster’s effectiveness was significant.
Protection against
COVID-19 of the second booster increased by 45%, effectiveness against
re-infection increased by 55%, effectiveness against severe condition increased
by 68%, and the risk of death from COVID-19 decreased by 74%.
For the above reasons,
vaccines continue to be a very important factor in the prevention and reduction
of death for COVID-19, especially with new strains BA. 4 and BA.5.
The Hanoi Centre for
Disease Control said that all people eligible for vaccination living in Hanoi
can go to communes’ and wards’ health stations for instructions and register
for booster shots./.
Source: VietnamPlus
