HCMC – The Government has agreed to choose contractors for the purchase of another 20 million doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, instead of organizing competitive bidding.
Under a decision signed by Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, which is in line with Article 26 in the Bidding Law, the Government assigned the Ministry of Health to purchase the vaccine in line with the law to have the vaccine at the earliest to meet the local demand, the local media reported.
The 20 million doses will be administered to around nine million children aged from 12 to 17 in Vietnam, according to the Ministry of Health. The country will start vaccinating them against Covid-19 at the end of this year.
Thus, Vietnam will buy a total of 51 million Pfizer doses, with three million doses arriving in Vietnam in the third quarter and the remainder in the last quarter of the year.
The HCMC Department of Home Affairs proposed the municipal government quickly classify areas in the city and connect three levels of the Covid-19 treatment system to promptly receive, treat and transfer patients.
The city will arrange manpower to ensure the effective operation of the treatment system, mobilize medical workers for the treatment of Covid patients and call on individuals and private organizations to participate in the fight against the pandemic.
The city has established six pop-up healthcare stations, including one in District 3 and five in District 7, to promptly take care of the cases confined to their home.
Tang Chi Thuong, deputy director of the municipal Department of Health, said six more stations in Binh Chanh and another in District 6 would be put into operation today.
In the coming periods, more than 180,000 cases will be treated at home and 400 pop-up healthcare stations will be needed to treat these cases.
The department has also asked Thu Duc City and districts to review and complete the vaccination for people aged over 65. Over 146,000 vaccine doses will be distributed to Thu Duc City and districts to be administered to this group.
In related news, the Dong Nai Department of Health on August 20 informed that it had mobilized all public and private clinics to administer 265,000 doses, including 250,000 AstraZeneca doses and 15,000 Pfizer doses, to local residents.
From August 21 to 27, the vaccine will be prioritized for those living in six extremely-high-risk areas in Bien Hoa City and Vinh Cuu and Nhon Trach districts.
In addition, frontline workers and laborers of 928 enterprises applying the stay-at-work mode will receive the vaccine.
The department banned the collection of fees from vaccinated people in any form as the Covid vaccination is completely free.
