Vietnam in sustainable management phase of COVID-19 pandemic: WHO representative

WHO representative in Vietnam Dr Angela Pratt. (Photo: Ministry of Health)

Hanoi (VNA) – World Health Organisation () representative in Vietnam Dr
Angela Pratt has said that Vietnam is in the sustainable management phase of
the COVID-19 pandemic as the situation continues to stabilise with a very low
number of reported daily cases, and importantly no reported deaths in over two
months.

In an interview granted to the , the official said that now
in the fourth year of the pandemic, Vietnam and the world are in a much better
place than they were even 12 months ago.

“The
tools and vaccines we have are proven to protect lives and significantly reduce
risk of severe illness and death and also, in most places, to enable health
systems to function more normally again,” she said.

She added it is hoped that 2023 will be the year in which COVID-19 can be said to be over as a
public health emergency of international concern.  

Assessing
Vietnam’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic for each stage of the pandemic,
Angela said that from the start, Vietnam had
well-calibrated and strong public health and social measures in place.

These included a strong capacity for early detection and response, robust
surveillance measures, strong border measures, and social restrictions,
community adherence to personal protective behaviours; and healthcare
capacity. 

“All of
these measures kept cases and deaths low until vaccines were available, with Vietnam
having one of the lowest death rates in the region, especially early on in the
pandemic,” she said.

“This
was made possible through strong and effective government leadership, great
community efforts, and a tireless contribution from the health sector, in
particular, health workers.”

Illustrative photo (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam did an incredible job rolling out the primary series of COVID-19
vaccines in 2021 and 2022, she said, adding that the speed and scale of the
rollout, including efforts to ensure vaccines reach every corner of the
country, is one of the great success stories of the country’s COVID-19
response, and the region more broadly.

She said
the Government of Vietnam, particularly the Ministry of Health, health workers, businesses, communities, and partners are all to be commended for
their efforts.

“As a result of these efforts, in 2022, Vietnam did an
excellent job of transitioning to what we call the ‘sustained management’ phase
of COVID-19 – balancing social and economic development with public health measures
to protect the vulnerable and the health system,” she emphasised.

However, she said with the pandemic unfortunately not over yet – the world must remain vigilant, keeping
up strong surveillance, ensuring everyone eligible, especially those most
vulnerable, are vaccinated and boosted, and also continuing to encourage people
to be mindful of their risk.

“With
the government remaining vigilant and communities remaining mindful, we can
continue to protect the health system and build on Vietnam’s impressive
economic and social recovery,” she said.

The WHO
official said that if Vietnam maintains preparedness for worsened pandemic
development, with its experience of the past three years and the National
Pandemic Preparedness and Response Plan continuing to be reviewed, the country
is well placed to respond to future outbreaks.

She
noted that it’s really important to continue to strengthen the health system to
ensure it can cope with a surge in cases; sustain and build up healthcare
workforce capacity; keep up-to-date with vaccinations for eligible populations
and prepare for mass vaccination if needed; and enhance multi-source
surveillance, testing, and sequencing, to detect possible genomic changes and
mutations.

According
to the WHO, three years after WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus declared COVID-19 as a global health emergency of international
concern, there have been over 760 million confirmed cases and almost 7 million
deaths reported globally.

From the
beginning of the pandemic to March 24, 2023, Vietnam reported nearly 11.53
million COVID-19 infections, of that more than 10.61 million cases have
recovered from the disease. killed 43,186 people in Vietnam,
accounting for 0.4% of total infections. Nearly 266 million COVID-19 vaccine
doses have been administered in the country./.