Anti-virus forces on duty at a border area. The prime minister has decided to extract VND1.55 trillion from the backup State budget for 2021 to fund the fight against Covid-19 - PHOTO: VNA

HCMC - The prime minister has decided to earmark VND1.55 trillion from the backup State budget for 2021 to fund the fight against Covid-19.

The Ministry of National Defense will spend it on several tasks, including quarantining returnees or direct contacts of confirmed positive cases, controlling or preventing illegal entry, conducting Covid-19 tests and offering meal support and allowances to anti-virus forces during the 2021 Lunar New Year holiday.

The prime minister also ordered the ministries of Finance and National Defense to assume responsibility for the use of the fund to ensure transparency and fairness, the local media reported.

Earlier in late June, the prime minister allocated VND7.65 trillion to the Ministry of Health for the purchase of 30 million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine and 31 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

The Government has spent VND168.8 trillion to support firms and residents and fund the fight against Covid-19 in 2020 and during the first half of 2021, the Economic Committee told the National Assembly on July 22.