Woman vaccinated against COVID-19 (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) - Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are taking every effort to speed up testing and vaccinations against COVID-19 as the two largest cities of Vietnam continue experiencing complex developments of the pandemic.

Ho Chi Minh City’s Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control held a press briefing on September 7 to update information about vaccination situation in the city.

Vietnam’s current biggest COVID-19 hotspot has to date injected over 6.72 million people. It is striving to give the first jab for all people aged from 18 and the second shot for those who are due to receive the next injection.

Amidst the complicated developments of the pandemic, the Prime Minister has requested the Defence Minister, the Secretaries of Party Committees and Chairpersons of People's Committee of Hai Phong city and Bac Giang, Vinh Phuc, Bac Ninh, Hai Duong, Hung Yen, Ha Nam, Nam Dinh, Thai Binh and Hoa Binh provinces to proactively prepare human resources to be ready to support Hanoi in rapid testing, classification of patients for suitable care and treatment, tracing of possible contacts with patients, and organisation of vaccination against COVID-19 when necessary.

Taking samples for COVID-19 testing (Photo: VNA)
As of September 6, Hanoi had administered 2.4 million vaccine doses, covering about 35 percent of the city's population aged 18 and above. According to the Hanoi Centre for Disease Control, in the coming days, the city will accelerate vaccination when sufficient vaccines are allocated.

In compliance with an official dispatch issued by Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Chu Ngoc Anh, the capital city will conduct mass testing for all residents from September 6-12.

Accordingly, those living in locked-down, quarantine and extremely high-risk areas will be tested every 2-3 days. Others in high-risk areas will have samples collected every 5-7 days to "filter out" COVID-19 cases from the community./.
VNA