Government pushes for greater COVID-19 vaccine coverage

Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính has urged the Ministry of Health and local authorities to accelerate the administration of the third and fourth COVID-19 vaccine doses for people from 12 years old.

The PM’s Office on Saturday sent a document detailing his guidance on the issue, as infections of the Omicron sub-variant BA.5 have been detected in Việt Nam.

The PM urged the health ministry and authorities to strictly comply with the Government’s resolutions and documents on COVID-19 prevention and control, which were issued at the beginning of the year.

He assigned Deputy Prime Minister Vũ Đức Đam to continue leading the health ministry and authorities in 63 cities and provinces to prevent the spread of the virus, especially by speeding up COVID-19 vaccine administration to reach the goals identified by the Government.

He asked the health ministry to put more effort into helping localities give the third and fourth vaccine doses to people from 12 years old, and make sure children from five years old receive two doses.

Authorities of cities and provinces across the country should closely collaborate with the ministry to complete these tasks, and make sure there are enough medical equipment and medicine available to provide treatment for the people when needed, he said.

He also assigned the Ministry of Information and Communication to collaborate with the health ministry and other communication agencies, providing information to the people on the pandemic situation and the BA.5 sub-variant, and encouraging them to get the vaccines and continue fighting the pandemic.

Following the PM’s guidance, the health ministry on Saturday sent an urgent official document to nine ministries, requesting their collaboration in carrying out tasks assigned by the Government.

They are the ministries of defence, public security, education, industry and trade, transport, culture, labour, construction, and planning and investment.

The health ministry asked these concerned Government bodies to encourage their officials and staff to get their vaccines in accordance with health authorities’ instructions.

They should guide units under their jurisdiction to get in touch with local health facilities to get the vaccines, and start a campaign to promote the administration of the third and fourth doses in the first week of July, it said.

Statistics from the health ministry show that 52.8 per cent of the country’s COVID-19 deaths were unvaccinated, 29.8 per cent had only one or two doses, and only 7.3 per cent had three doses.

Research also showed that the number of antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, especially to the Omicron variant, decrease drastically after 15 weeks of getting the third dose. This means getting the fourth dose is essential to preventing COVID-19 infections, especially for the general population from 50 years old, those aged 18 and older with deficient immune systems, and frontline workers.