HCMC – The Ministry of Health this evening, March 20 reported 141,151 new Covid cases, with all but two being local infections in 62 cities and provinces, down 9,457 cases against yesterday, marking a decline in new Covid cases for the fourth straight day.
Among the latest domestic cases, Hanoi City as usual recorded the highest number at 19,065, followed by Nghe An with 9,333 and Phu Tho with 5,747. Other localities detected fewer than 5,000 infections each.
The Vinh Phuc Department of Health registered to add 25,056 cases detected earlier to the national Covid case monitoring system.
The new Covid cases have raised the country’s Covid caseload to over 7.95 million, with 4.1 million Covid patients having fully recovered from the disease.
The ministry also reported 63 new Covid fatalities in 31 cities and provinces, taking the country’s Covid death toll to 41,880.
In related news, the prime minister has assigned the Ministry of Health to study and plan the vaccination of children aged from three to five.
Besides, the ministry was tasked with considering giving the fourth shot of the Covid vaccine to adults and the third dose to children aged 12-17, according to a dispatch released by the Government Office on March 19.
The Government leader also ordered the ministry to speed up the purchase of Covid vaccines and the production of home-grown vaccines, the local media reported.
Vietnam aims to complete the administering of the second Covid-19 vaccine shot to children aged between 12 and 17 and the third shot to adults at the end of the first quarter of 2022, and complete the vaccination of children under 11 prior to September this year.
As of March 19, the country had administered over 201.6 million doses of the Covid vaccine to people aged 12 and older.
