HCMC – The Ministry of Health will allocate some one million more Covid-19 vaccine doses to HCMC in the coming time due to the complicated development of the virus, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son told an anti-pandemic meeting today, July 2.
Speaking at the meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh, deputy Party secretary of HCMC Phan Van Mai and HCMC Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong, Son said that some 400,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses donated by Japan that arrived at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport in HCMC this morning would be prioritized for HCMC.
The city’s recent vaccination campaign deviated from the initial plan, while its progress was not as swift as expected, said Son, adding that HCMC should carefully and promptly map out a detailed plan for the next vaccination program so that it can be carried out in a safe, smooth and effective manner.
Over the past 10 days, HCMC reported a triple-digit spike in Covid-19 cases each day. The city detected 464 Covid-19 infections yesterday, July 1, so it is necessary to speed up the Covid-19 vaccination drive in HCMC to prevent the spread of Covid-19, said the deputy minister.
The disease has not only hit HCMC, but also spread to other provinces in the southern region, including Long An, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Tien Giang and Dong Thap.
To quickly suppress the pandemic, the ministry also asked HCMC to promote its Covid-19 testing capacity.
The city was also told to arrange testing points at alleys rather than at schools on a large scale to make it easy for residents to travel to these points for Covid-19 testing.
Besides, Son asked the municipal government to direct the concentrated quarantine centers to announce the test results of those who have ended their 21-day quarantine period on time so that they can return home.
The teams or units in charge of conducting contact-tracing operations should only focus on their tasks to quickly complete contact tracing, the local media reported, citing Deputy Minister Son.
As of this afternoon, the city had reported over 4,500 domestic Covid-19 cases in the current fourth Covid-19 wave, which began in late April.
