Illustrative photo (Source: VNA) Speaking at a national conference held virtually, Dam,who is also deputy head of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19Prevention and Control, noted the rapid spread of Omicron that has been foundin 89 countries and territories so far, including Southeast Asian nations.
Dam reiterated a notice issued by the Prime Ministeron December 19 ordering stronger actions given the resurgence of the newvariant.
The Ministry of Health needs to keep a close watch onthe situation to give timely guidelines and instructions, Dam cited the notice,saying large-scale health system overload should not happen.
The Deputy PM urged speeding up the vaccine rollout,which, he said, must cover all people in the targeted age groups, especiallythose above 50 years old and people with underlying diseases.
He emphasised that the Health Ministry and People’sCommittees of cities and provinces must ensure that people testing positive forthe virus gain access to medical services and undergo health monitoring.
As of December 22 morning, Vietnam reported 1,571,780infections, ranking 32 out of 223 countries and territories in terms of thecaseload. Of the total, 1,571,780 were detected during the fourth wave ofinfections that began late April.
The country’s death toll reached 30,041 or 1,9 percentof the caseload.
Localities are working hard to complete administeringthe second dose of COVID-19 vaccines for residents above 18 years old by theend of this month, and for those aged from 12 to 18 within next month./.
VNA
