The municipal authorities on Wednesday gave the jab to 100 homeless individuals in District 4.

One of the homeless people in District 4 gets the Covid-19 jab. Photo: Vietnamnet

These people have recently been gathered by District 4’s soldiers and police officers to temporarily live at a local secondary school. 14 other homeless people were taken to quarantine center after their coronavirus tests came out positive.

“Two days ago, I was still wandering aimlessly on the streets with no food to eat. I also have underlying diseases,” Vo Thanh Phuc said. “I feel lucky I got help from the authorities. I’m so lucky I couldn’t hold back my tears.”

They sit waiting on the ground for their turn. Photo: Vietnamnet

Photo: Vietnamnet

“For the past few weeks, I slept on the street, barely had any food or drink to survive. The local officials have given me accommodation and daily meals, I’m super happy,” Ngo Ngoc Bau, 40, another homeless man, told Vietnamnet. “We are even get vaccinated. I can’t thank the city authorities enough for their care.”

The recipients will be taken to the Social Security Center for further care after the injection.

At the meeting with the District 4 People’s Committee on August 23, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam asked HCMC to re-check all the homeless people in the city.

Photo: Vietnamnet

Photo: Vietnamnet

HCMC has been the epicenter of Vietnam’s fourth Covid-19 wave for two months now. So far in the wave that hit Vietnam four months ago, the city has recorded over 190,000 local cases and 7,302 deaths.

Vietnam has vaccinated around 17.6 million people with at least one Covid-19 vaccine shot. Over 1.9 million people have been fully vaccinated. The country aims to vaccinate 70 percent of its 96 million population by next year.

Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son on Tuesday afternoon said Vietnam has so far received around 23 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines from various sources, including the global Covax distribution plan, foreign governments. The number is reportedly higher than expected. Vietnam has also been receiving medical supplies from international friends and overseas Vietnamese around the world.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has also sent a letter addressed to the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, asking for priority to be given to Vietnam in accessing COVID-19 vaccines in the next allocation round. He also expects more medical supplies and mRNA vaccine technology transfer from WHO to help Vietnam overcome this hard time, as reported by VNS.

Jasmine Le