In just one week, Vietnam recorded four deaths linked to COVID-19. As of Saturday morning, the Ministry of Health confirmed the country’s domestic tally since the fourth community wave has already reached 1,913.
In Ho Chi Minh City, Health Department issued a request for pharmacists to guide anyone who has COVID-like symptoms to complete health declaration forms, either on the website tokhaiyte.vn or the two mobile apps: NCOVI in Vietnamese and Vietnam Health Declaration in English.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance, meanwhile, said the country plans to set up a VND25.2 trillion ($1.1 billion) fund to acquire 150 million COVID-19 vaccine doses. The ministry had submitted the plan to the government for approval, adding that the fund will be coming from the state budget.
With the current emergency caused by the pandemic, vaccine production and distribution is no longer the business of one company or one country, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh called for open access to COVID-19 vaccines adding that the pandemic is a global humanitarian issue wherein solutions have to be shared without undue barriers.
“Vietnam wishes for continued assistance from partners in containing Covid-19, especially in research, production, and equal access to vaccines," the PM said.
The 74th session of the World Health Assembly (WHA), happening virtually on May 24 through June 1, will stress the urgency of ending the current pandemic and preventing the next one by building a healthier, safer and fairer world.
The Health Assembly is WHO’s highest decision-making body and will be attended by delegations from all around the world.
The Assembly will be webcast live with interpretation in the WHO’s six official languages. Proceedings can be followed at: https://www.who.int/about/governance/world-health-assembly/seventy-fourth-world-health-assembly