Vietnam, One Of The 5 Worst Places To Be Right Now, Reports 12,607 COVID-19 Cases On Tuesday

Vietnam’s Ministry of Health confirmed a total of 12,607 cases recorded on Tuesday. The country’s patient tally is now at 462,096 cases.

The latest cases were detected in 42 cities and provinces, namely Ho Chi Minh City (5,444), Binh Duong (4,530), Dong Nai (634), Long An (587), Tien Giang (214), Dong Thap (138), Da Nang (123). Tay Ninh (118), Kien Giang (99), Nghe An (81), Ha Noi (77), Khanh Hoa (66), Ba Ria-Vung Tau (64), Binh Thuan (59), Can Tho (53), Quang Binh (47), Quang Ngai (40), Thua Thien-Hue (25), Phu Yen (23), Binh Phuoc (22), An Giang (17), Dak Lak (17), Tra Vinh (14), Ben Tre (13), Hau Giang (11), Binh Dinh (8), Thanh Hoa (8), Vinh Long (7), Phu Tho (6), Ninh Thuan (6), Son La (6), Bac Lieu (5), Lang Son (5), Lam Dong (4), Dak Nong (4), Quang Nam (3), Quang Tri (3), Gia Lai (3), Kon Tum (2), Ha Tinh (2), Ninh Binh (2), and Bac Ninh (1). Six imported cases were also recorded.

The national death tally remains at 11,064.

MoH also reported 10,044 new recoveries, taking the total number of recovered cases to 238,860.

Vietnam is now at the bottom of Bloomberg’s Resilience Index

Bloomberg recently released its new COVID Resilience Ranking, a monthly snapshot of where the virus is being handled the most effectively with the least social and economic disruption.

Unfortunately but also unsurprisingly, the worst places to be during the pandemic in the month of August are all in Southeast Asia, with Vietnam placed fourth from the last.

The Resilience Ranking tapped 12 data indicators that span Covid containment, the quality of healthcare, vaccination coverage, overall mortality, and progress toward restarting travel and easing border curbs. The Ranking reflects the world’s biggest 53 economies’ performance measured against one another as they all confront the same threat.

Ranked from the bottom: Malaysia with 42.7 points, the Philippines with 44.1, Indonesia with 44.6, Vietnam with 45.9, and Thailand with 47.7.

Vietnam slid four spots from last month’s ranking, as it saw a delta-fueled resurgence in cases, followed by stringent restrictions implemented to over 73% of its population.

In terms of vaccinations, Vietnam (9%) is one of the only five countries that has under 10% of its population covered by vaccines, along with Iraq (3.2%), Bangladesh (7.1%), Egypt (3.3%), and Nigeria (1%) — this is a calculated figure by Bloomberg News based on the number of doses administered and the mix of vaccine types used.

“With the highly transmissible mutation slipping through strict border curbs in some places and denting the protection provided by vaccination in others, Bloomberg’s August Covid Resilience Ranking saw stark shifts. New Zealand, the longest-reigning No. 1 since the ranking debuted last November, plunged 26 spots after the nation’s domestic life went from the most relaxed to the strictest, as the government imposed the highest level of lockdown after delta infiltrated its fortress-like defenses,” reads the Bloomberg report.

Nearly everywhere else, delta’s fast spread has been unprecedented and is upending every model of success that emerged in the past 18 months. From Japan and South Korea that relied on social distancing compliance, to mainland China and Vietnam that used strict curbs, every approach that managed to stem the pathogen’s spread has been challenged by the variant, dashing hopes that the end of the COVID-19 era is in sight.

As for the safest places to be right now, Norway, the Netherlands, and Finland took the top three spots.

HCMC to fully vaccinate all adults

Economies that moved quickly and early to secure and administer shots have the advantage of being mostly inoculated with mRNA vaccines, which appear to not just prevent a person from developing COVID-19, but also lower their chances of contracting and transmitting it as well.

Vietnam, regrettably, doesn’t have the same kind of advantage. But at least now they’re trying to keep up with the world.

On Tuesday, Ho Chi Minh City released a plan to vaccinate all residents 18 and above with two vaccine doses by the end of the year. The said plan is divided into four phases.

Deputy chairman of HCMC People’s Committee Duong Anh Duc said the first phase will see 680,000 residents receiving their first shot by September 5, ensuring that around 90% of adults aged 18 and above have their first shot. More than two million residents will receive their second shot from September 6 to 10.

The second phase, which is set to take place from September 16 to 30, will attend to the remaining 10% of adults, which in total is around 720,000, with their first shot and as many as 656,000 individuals will receive their second shot.

“The third phase, from October 1 to 15, will provide the second shot to 2.6 million residents. The fourth phase, from October 16 to December 12, will see 1.4 million people getting their second shot,” the deputy chairman told local media.

The country has so far received 27.6 million doses of different vaccines from government deals with pharmaceutical firms, including the World Health Organization’s COVAX initiative and donations by foreign governments.

For the city’s plan to succeed, more than 8.1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from various brands are needed until the end of the year, with over 6.7 million of them to be used for the second shot.

Apart from vaccines received from the Ministry of Health, the city’s Department of Health is also working with a number of organizations to help the city acquire more vaccine doses.