Strict COVID-19 prevention measures must be maintained: meeting

Hanoi (VNA) – Strict prevention and control measures are still needed as Vietnam would only massively provide a COVID-19 vaccine in the second quarter of 2022 at the earliest, Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long said at a meeting in Hanoi on December 7.

Speaking at the meeting of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, Long asked for tightening border management, as well as the supervision of quarantine at home and lodging facilities.

“Any violations of pandemic prevention and control regulations must be strictly handled,” he requested.

Long told the meeting that his ministry is racing against time for COVID-19 vaccine study, test and production.

The HCM City-based Nanogen Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd, one of the four units that are joining the COVID-19 vaccine production in Vietnam, is scheduled to coordinate with the Vietnam Military Medical University to officially recruit volunteers for the first phase of human trials on December 10, he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, head of the committee, also urged stronger prevention measures, especially during the winter and upcoming major national events.

He highlighted the responsibility of local authorities in implementing relevant guidelines issued by the health ministries and other agencies concerned.

Strict prevention measures must be maintained on flights, the Deputy PM said, stressing the need to seriously follow regulations on concentrated quarantine, and continue health monitoring in localities towards those returning from concentrated quarantine facilities.

One imported case of COVID-19 was confirmed on December 7, raising the national count to 1,367, according to committee.

The new patient is a 29-year-old Vietnamese woman who returned from Russia and was quarantined upon her arrival at Da Nang airport on December 6.

A total of 1,224 COVID-19 patients have fully recovered, with four given the all-clear on December 7.

Among those still under treatment, eight have tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 once, five twice and four thrice.

There are 19,806 people who had close contact with COVID-19 patients or arrived from pandemic-hit areas being quarantined across the country./.