COVID-19 vaccination in Bangkok, Thailand (Photo: Xinhua/VNA) Vietnamese and foreign experts told the workshop thatCOVID-19 responding solutions and economic stimulus packages have also beensought with the hope to end negative measures of lockdown and social distancing andspeeding up economic recovery.
The experts analysed the different moves adopted byASEAN countries in dealing with COVID-19 as well as ASEAN cooperation in the endeavour,to offer policy recommendations to regional countries on how to fight thepandemic.
Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam, said Indonesia,Malaysia and the Philippines have been hardest hit in ASEAN by recent outbreaksin April and May, with thousands of new infections reported each day, whileThailand has confirmed over 100,000 cases and Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam are experiencingtheir toughest outbreaks so far.
In this context, countries are tightening border management, she said, notingthat new vaccines have been researched and produced around the world at an unprecedentedpace and the COVAX facility, funded by the World Health Organisation (WHO), has also showedpotential in building a multilateral and equal approach to vaccinedistribution. Between 1 and 33 percent of people in ASEAN member countries havereceived at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot, she said.
The official noted that Vietnam has planned to form a 1-billion-USD COVID-19 vaccine fund while the National Assembly has set aside 500 millionUSD to speed up vaccine purchases from different sources. These are importantstrategies in COVID-19 prevention and control, she said, adding that Vietnam isalso working to produce its own vaccines.
The UNDP highly valued Vietnam’s initiative in registeringwith WHO to become a potential vaccine production hub to meet domestic andregional demand, she said.
Wiesen stressed that Vietnam is the only country in ASEANand one of a few in the world to post positive economic growth in 2020. Researchby the UNDP shows that Vietnamese people strongly support the Government in itsCOVID-19 prevention and control efforts, while medical staff and the community asa whole are working tirelessly on the task.
Meanwhile, Associate Prof. Dr. Nguyen Huy Hoangfrom the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) told the workshop that SoutheastAsia was one of the first regions affected by COVID-19.
As of May 24, it had recorded more than 3.8 millionCOVID-19 infections and nearly 76,000 fatalities. ASEAN economies have beenseriously damaged, he noted, adding that the rapid spread of the pandemic resultedin disruptions in supply chains while frozen demand has led to a slump intourism, trade, and investment activities. The majority of economic activitieshave been interrupted and stagnated due to lockdown and social distancingmeasures.
COVID-19 has also created social instability and a public health crisis,increasing poverty and unemployment rates as well as affecting people’s welfare in themid-term, Hoang said, stressing that when the number of COVID-19 infectionsrise, countries will also face a shortage of medical equipment and staff.
He believed emergency and public health agencies throughout ASEAN havepromptly and regularly taken action, shared information and their best response measures at ASEAN meetings on thepandemic.
ASEAN leaders have proposed the re-allocation of resourcesfor pandemic prevention and control, set up a fund for COVID-19 response, and standardisedoperational procedures in the field, he noted.
Hoang asserted that to thoroughlycontrol the pandemic, herd immunity is crucial, while more positive economicsolutions are hoped to help regional countries recover faster./.
VNA
