Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has asked health authorities to prepare for vaccinating boost shots as part of efforts to cope with the rising Covid-19 infections in the country now.

Vaccinating the old in Hanoi. Photo: Khanh Huy/ The Hanoi Times

The request, which was released on Dec 2, is aimed to mitigate fatalities caused by SARS-CoV-2 that has been widespread in Vietnam again after the country relaxed restrictions and switched to safe living with Covid-19 since early October 2021.

Under the request, the health sector needs to vaccinate all people who are eligible for inoculation, with special care to the elderly, those with underlying diseases, and frontline health workers.

In addition, the Ministry of Health needs to allocate more antiviral drugs to ensure that all infected people access the pills after being confirmed by health workers.

The number of coronavirus infections in Vietnam has been on the rise over the past month as restrictions were lifted to serve reopening plans.

According to the ministry, the number of deaths on December 3 was 200, the highest for two months. Meanwhile, the new ìnections and fatalities in the week ended on December 3 rose 32.7% and 11.7%, respectively from the previous week.

Deputy of Health Tran Van Thuan said more than 80% of deaths were reported among people aged more than 50 with underlying diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer.

As of December 4, Vietnam’s deaths hađ reached more than 25,600, accounting for 2% of the total infections. Currently, its active cases are 247,000.

To mitigate losses, Thuan said the treatment should be followed the level of health severity. In addition, central hospitals extended their support to lower-level clinics to ensure timely and proper treatment.

Regarding vaccine supply, Thuan said that Vietnam has sufficient vaccines for booster shots. Thus far, the ministry has inked contracts to buy 200 million doses by the end of 2021 and negotiated to purchase more from Pfizer and AstraZeneca for the booster jabs.

So far, more than 126 million doses have been administered to adults aged above 18 and children of 12-17. Around 70% of people aged above 18 are double dosed.

Sharing the same situation, Hanoi continues seeing a surge in infections with 791 cases detected on December 3, the highest-ever single day figure since the beginning on the pandemic in early 2020. So far, its total infection reached more than 12,000.

However, Hanoi remains one of the localities successfully containing the virus with a low rate of fatalities and critical cases.

Given soaring cases, the local authorities have released regulations on treating F0 at home. Accordingly, Covid-19 patients aged below 50, those with underlying diseases, fully vaccinated, and unpregnant.

Director of the Hanoi Department of Health Tran Thi Nhi Ha said treating F0 at home will facilitate patients themselves, contribute to improving the grassroots clinic system, and ensure safety for the community.

F0 treated at home will receive support from health workers and through hotline consultation. The patients will be given enough drugs for the treatment, she noted.