HCMC – HCMC will be prioritized for access to Covid-19 vaccines and two million doses are expected to be administered to city residents by the end of this month, said Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.
At a meeting with the city’s leaders on July 11, the Government leader asked the city to learn from experience to ensure safety during the vaccination campaign. In addition, testing must be done quickly but effectively and safely, the local media reported.
As the coronavirus is raging, PM Chinh told HCMC to take more stringent anti-virus measures.
He asked the city to conduct a careful review in order not to leave behind people in need of support, especially jobless people, lottery ticket sellers and homeless people.
It is necessary to establish support centers and hot lines to receive residents’ proposals and supply residents with sufficient essential commodities.
Regarding Covid-19 treatment, the prime minister requested the city to enhance equipment and human resources and prevent cross infection in hospitals, quarantine facilities and areas on lockdown.
The stay-at-home order under Directive 16 was a difficult but right decision of the city, he noted. The move has won support from the State, the people, enterprises, scientists and experts.
Speaking at the meeting, HCMC Chairman Nguyen Thanh Phong said that from June 25 to July 10, the city conducted over 766,000 quick tests and took more than 1.8 million samples for Covid-19 testing, with the results of over 1.59 million samples worked out.
The city has established an anti-Covid-19 command center, led by municipal chairman Phong, a Covid-19 testing coordination center and a center for the analysis of pandemic data.
The city has ensured sufficient essential commodities for local residents and announced more than 2,800 outlets citywide. Moreover, over VND80 billion has been disbursed for pandemic-affected people.
More than 991,300 people in HCMC have got vaccinated against Covid-19, including 48,100 people who received two shots. In the upcoming time, the city will be allocated 1.1 million doses, including one million Moderna doses donated by the United States through the Covax Facility and 100,000 doses presented by Japan.
Phong added the city had established eight field hospitals with nearly 30,000 beds for the treatment of Covid-19 patients and would raise the number to 50,000 beds.
