A worker at the Saigon Hi-Tech Park in HCMC is injected with the Covid-19 vaccine this morning. Vietnam’s Covid-19 tally has risen to 12,620 - PHOTO: MINISTRY OF HEALTH
HCMC - The Ministry of Health has confirmed 112 new Covid-19 cases, with 109 of them caused by local transmission and three imported, sending the country’s total infections to 12,620 as of this afternoon, June 19.
The domestic cases were detected in eight cities and provinces, including 64 in HCMC, 22 in Bac Giang, 14 in Bac Ninh, three in Long An, two in Hoa Binh, two in Nghe An, one in Lao Cai and one in Hanoi.
The three imported cases were reported in Thanh Hoa, Ha Nam and Tay Ninh. They were quarantined right after returning to the country.
The number of domestic infections has amounted to 9,376 since the fourth Covid-19 wave began on April 27.
Vietnam has administered over 2.2 million Covid-19 vaccine shots so far. On June 18 alone, some 250,000 people got the jabs.
Dr. Nguyen Thu Anh, country director of the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research in Vietnam, said vaccination is the key solution for the country to fight off Covid-19, get back to normal and be able to reopen its borders.
“A successful vaccination campaign is one that is conducted widely, quickly, safely and effectively,” she said.
Vietnamese researchers from the institute called on the Vietnamese Government to speed up the vaccination campaign.
According to the researchers, vaccination speed is an important factor affecting the vaccine allocation decision of the COVAX Facility. Therefore, rapid vaccination not only protects people but also determines the number of vaccines the country receives.
HCMC, which is currently the country’s third biggest Covid-19 hotspot with 1,450 case since late April, began its biggest-ever vaccination campaign this morning.
The city expects to administer 836,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in five to seven days. These doses are among nearly one million vaccine doses provided by the Government of Japan that arrived in the city on Thursday.
Some 500 workers at the Saigon Hi-Tech Park were the first ones to receive the vaccines as part of this campaign.
Nguyen Huu Hung, deputy director of the HCMC Department of Health, said the city will operate 650 vaccination sites to administer 200,000 doses a day.
