Medical workers give COVID-19 vaccine booster shots to migrant workers in Binh Duong province. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNS/VNA) – is a critical and decisive
factor in reducing and hospitalisations in Vietnam, especially
as the country reopens borders to international travel, the
Ministry of Health (MoH) has said.
Minister
of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said Vietnam had seen a rapid increase in
the number of COVID-19 cases caused by the BA.2 mutation, with a very rapid
spread compared to the original Omicron variant.
However,
the number of COVID-19 has remained low due to the high vaccination rate.
This showed the important role of vaccinations against COVID-19.
“In
particular, as the country returns to normal, the ministry has shifted our
approach to managing the risk of severity among COVID-19 patients instead of
the previous approach focusing on the number of cases,” the minister
said.
He
said that the health system had strengthened its capacity to control the
pandemic and the mortality rate for COVID-19 patients.
Long
said the ministry was building a plan on human resources and infrastructure to
vaccinate children aged 5-11.
Those
with underlying diseases and high-risk groups will also be injected with a
fourth dose.
The
ministry has assigned specialised agencies, scientific councils and
experts to carefully research the vaccination plan in each stage and analyse
the risks before implementing the vaccination drive.
On
March 16, the Ministry of Health announced that more than 200 million COVID-19
vaccine doses had been administered in Vietnam, including 183.4 million in
adults.
More
than 17 million COVID-19 doses have been given to children aged 12-17
years. 8.7 million received the first dose, and 8.2 million the second.
In
the Spring vaccination campaign, implemented from February 1 to 28, about 18
million doses were administered.
Long
said Vietnam’s vaccination campaign had been successful.
In
terms of the approach to the COVID-19 vaccine, the country has multi-source
access to vaccines approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The
country has allocated vaccines in different stages, prioritising vaccines for
high-risk areas or groups to ensure flexible production.
Vietnam
has successfully organised the largest-scale vaccination campaign in history.
“We
have used the entire health system to participate in the vaccination campaign.
The country has targeted to administer the booster to all adults by the end of
this month,” Long said.
“In
terms of dissemination, media forces have done a good job, which helped those
who were hesitant to get vaccinated against COVID-19 to go ahead and get it
done.”
Coordination
among ministries, sectors and local authorities at all levels also
contributed to the success.
Military
forces have set up vaccine storage warehouses in military zones to transfer
vaccines, ensuring that they are always available.
The
speedy action of the grassroots party committees in vaccination work also
added to the success of the vaccination campaign, he said./.
Source: VietnamPlus
