HCMC – Vietnam’s Covid-19 caseload has reached over 1.3 million in the ongoing fourth Covid-19 wave, with 14,314 new cases being confirmed this evening, December 5, by the Ministry of Health.
Of the total, two of them were imported and 14,312 were locally infected, detected in 61 cities and provinces, up 319 cases over yesterday.
Among the domestic cases, HCMC accounted for the highest number at 1,491, followed by Can Tho with 1,132, Tay Ninh with 792, Soc Trang with 775 and Ba Ria-Vung Tau with 710.
Dong Thap, Binh Thuan, Ben Tre, Binh Phuoc, Vinh Long, Khanh Hoa, Ca Mau, Binh Dinh and Hanoi detected 400-690 cases each, while other cities and provinces had fewer than 400 new infections each.
Today, 1,711 Covid patients were released from hospital, raising the country’s total recoveries to over one million.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health confirmed 199 more Covid deaths, including 69 in HCMC, with four of them being transferred from other localities, 20 in Tay Ninh, 19 in An Giang, 17 in Kien Giang, 12 in Dong Nai and 10 in Tien Giang. Sixfteen other cities and provinces reported fewer than 10 deaths each.
In related news, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, at a meeting on December 5, asked the competent agencies to study the possibility and plan to vaccinate children aged 5 and older against Covid-19 in a scientific and safe manner.
According to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu, the new Omicron variant has made the pandemic more complicated and unpredictable. However, the current vaccines can still protect people against the variant and vaccine producers are studying ways to improve their vaccines.
Many countries have administered the booster Covid-19 vaccine shot to the fully vaccinated and more than 20 countries, including developed ones, have vaccinated children aged between three and 11 against Covid-19.
PM Chinh said the new developments of the pandemic in Vietnam and the world as a whole forced the country to spend more efforts on the import, research and production of Covid vaccines and antivirals.
In December at the latest, localities must complete administering the second dose to residents aged 18 and above. The competent agencies must have a roadmap to complete the vaccination of children aged between 12 and 17 and the administering of the booster shot, prioritizing people aged 50 and older.
PM Chinh also asked the Ministry of Health and other relevant agencies to create the most favorable conditions, including providing financial support, for the local vaccine and antiviral production.
In another development, 18 babies, two to six months old, in Hanoi’s Quoc Oai District, who were wrongly administered the Pfizer vaccine have been eligible to be discharged from hospital after a month of being monitored at Xanh Pon Hospital.
The families of these babies wanted their children’s health to be checked periodically at no charge until they are 18 years old.
According to a leader of the Hanoi Department of Health, these babies were put under special monitoring at Xanh Pon Hospital. Although their health is stable now, they will be monitored in the next several months and checked annually.
