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Cash-strapped Africa overwhelmed by COVID-19 vaccine challenge

April 21, 2021 by tuoitrenews.vn

DAKAR, April 21 – When Ghana received 50,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses from India last month, it hit a frustrating roadblock: it had not trained enough staff to distribute them.

The country was still rolling out shots received in late February from the global vaccine-sharing scheme COVAX, and didn’t have the capacity to expand that operation, according to the head of Ghana’s immunisation programme.

Rather than going straight into the arms of health workers, the additional doses were put in cold storage in the capital Accra, Kwame Amponsa-Achiano told Reuters, adding that his team had received two days’ notice about the shipment.

“We were in the middle of the first campaign,” Amponsa-Achiano said. “How do you plan for 50,000 when you already are doing another campaign?”

The problems faced by Ghana, one of sub-Saharan Africa’s more economically developed nations, illustrate how a continent with experience in battling deadly infectious diseases has found itself ill-prepared to inoculate people against this pandemic.

Many African countries, already facing a shortage of affordable vaccines, are being stunned by the unprecedented scale of the distribution challenge when doses do arrive.

Authorities do not have enough equipment like masks and cotton wool because of funding shortfalls that could total billions of dollars, according to more than a dozen health experts and some internal government documents seen by Reuters.

They also lack sufficient personnel and training to distribute vaccines at short notice.

While Africa has thus far been relatively unscathed by COVID-19, some experts fear stuttering rollouts could draw out the outbreak in the region, potentially leading to more deaths and economically damaging restrictions in a continent that is already the poorest in the world.

Benjamin Schreiber, COVAX coordinator at the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF, said logistical problems could mount in the coming weeks and months as countries tried to get vaccines to their general populations.

“As we start rolling out bigger quantities, we are going to start seeing more issues,” Schreiber said.

“The gaps in the healthcare systems will be the gaps that hinder the rollouts,” he added. “My worry is that we miss complete communities.”

Needed: millions of dollars

Ghana, where the novel coronavirus has infected more than 91,000 and killed over 750, is considered one of the better-prepared countries in Africa to carry out a mass vaccination drive because of its political stability and economic development.

The government aims to initially inoculate 17.6 million people – about half of its population – at a cost of $51.7 million, according to a national plan seen by Reuters.

It hopes to cover $7.9 million of that money with a World Bank loan but is short of $43.8 million, described as a “funding gap” in the internal government document.

Immunisation chief Amponsa-Achiano said he was not aware that the situation had changed since the plan was formulated in February.

The Ghanaian finance and health ministries did not respond to requests for comment.

Ghana was the first country in the world to receive a shipment from COVAX, taking delivery of 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine, manufactured in India, on Feb. 24.

It started its vaccine drive on March 1, and had vaccinated 599,000 people by April 7.

While that vaccination rate is better than many of its African peers – Ivory Coast vaccinated just over 53,000 people between March 1 and April 6 – it is far behind the fastest countries globally. Britain, for example, administered doses to about 2 million people in roughly the first month of its drive.

Needed: fridges, cotton wool

The Ghanaian national plan shows how even relatively prosperous African nations lack vital equipment.

Money is needed across the board, including $1.5 million for 11 walk-in cold rooms and over 650 fridges to keep vaccines at between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius.

About $25 million is needed for supplies and waste management, including 33,600 boxes of face masks, 240,000 bottles of hand sanitizer, and nearly 55,000 rolls of cotton wool, the plan says. About $21 million is needed to train over 171,000 health workers and volunteers.

To add to Ghana’s challenge, its next COVAX shipments, expected in April and May, have been delayed until June, because India suspended major exports of vaccines manufactured there.

In its 2021 budget, outlined in mid-March, the Ghanaian government allotted 929,296,610 cedis ($160 million) for vaccine acquisition and deployment.

Amponsa-Achiano said, though, it was not clear how much would go towards distribution, or when the funds would materialise.

It is a common problem in Africa, UNICEF’s Schreiber said.

“The question is at what point will this funding hit the ground? Will it be in time?”

Congo Ebola outbreaks

Some African authorities are familiar with deadly contagions. Since 2018, Congo has contained four Ebola outbreaks with a vaccine which must be stored at between -60 and -80 degrees Celsius.

But the scale of the COVID-19 vaccination drive is new.

COVAX – the donor scheme co-led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) – has delivered over 18 million doses to 41 African countries, according to Reuters data.

That’s the first wave in a drive expected to deliver 600 million doses to Africa this year, enough to vaccinate 20% of their populations. Russia, China and India have also donated some of their vaccines.

Funding is only one issue delaying vaccine rollouts.

Another is patchy record-keeping in many public health systems, which experts say make it difficult to identify people who should be prioritised because of age or co-morbidities.

Demand for shots is also weak in some countries due to mistrust of health authorities, lack of education about the vaccines and worries about potential side effects.

Spotty electricity and poor transport links in some places add to the challenge, while medical teams will have to negotiate safe passage across parts of Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Somalia and other places where insurgencies rage.

Vaccinating until end-2022?

John Nkengasong, who heads the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, says it could take until the end of 2022 to vaccinate 60% of the continent’s 1.3 billion people.

Take the task facing Mali, an impoverished country fighting an Islamist insurgency. It needs $14.7 million to deploy vaccines, including for gasoline, vaccine storage and training, according to an internal government vaccination plan seen by Reuters.

The government will need funding support from the WHO, UNICEF, the GAVI vaccine alliance and the World Bank, the plan says. Those organisations are all looking to provide funding to African nations facing shortfalls.

South Sudan, still racked by violence after a civil war ended in 2018, has seen COVID-19 infect at least 10,300 people and kill more than 100.

It began distributing 132,000 vaccine doses from COVAX on April 7. However, authorities won’t start administering shots outside the capital Juba and its surrounding county until May at the earliest, said Kawa Tong, a member of a COVID-19 steering committee that advises the government.

“The key reason is the lack of funds for a rollout outside Juba. The transport of vaccines, training of health workers, community outreach – all these are tied to funding,” Tong told Reuters.

Adding to the difficulties, by May the rainy season will be well underway, cutting off transport links to large parts of the country, she said. The vast majority of the 11 million-strong population live outside Juba county.

Atem Riek Anyom, director general for primary healthcare at South Sudan’s health ministry, said the government had requested World Bank funding, adding that vaccines would soon be deployed across the country.

“There’s no challenge in regards to the vaccine rollout,” he added.

The World Bank, which has a $12 billion fund to help developing countries around the world buy and distribute vaccines, said it was reviewing requests from Mali and South Sudan.

The bank said it has approved $2 billion to 17 countries, including seven in Africa: Ethiopia, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Eswatini, Tunisia, Rwanda and Gambia.

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Vietnam-based blockchain startup secures US$4 million investment from US

April 21, 2021 by hanoitimes.vn

The fresh investment aims to contribute to perfecting infrastructure of decentralized finance (DeFi).

Vietnam-based startup in blockchain, Coin98 Finance has received a US$4 million investment from Alameda Research, one of the leading quantitative crypto trading firms and liquidity providers, to expand its scale, create new products and contribute to perfecting infrastructure of decentralized finance (DeFi).

Headquarter of Coin98 Finance in Vietnam. Photo: Coin98 Finance

Coin98 Finance focuses on building a comprehensive ecosystem of DeFi protocols and applications across multiple blockchains. The startup is developing Coin98 Wallet, Coin98 Exchange, and other fascinating DeFi products.

“Alameda Research strengthens our vision to reach vast expansion and adoption through its extensive support. With Alameda Research’s investment, our team will begin to scale up and swell resources to boost all products in development and innovate additional products to contribute to maturing the DeFi infrastructure,” a representative from Coin98 Finance said.

Earlier, Coin98 Labs, a DeFi product builder focusing on creating and developing an ecosystem of DeFi protocols and applications on multiple blockchains, announced the completion of a US$1.25 million seed round led by ParaFi Capital, Multicoin Capital, Hashed and Spartan Group for its second product, Coin98 Exchange.

Coin98 Finance has over 200,000 users primarily in Southeast Asia and its monthly volume is about $20 million.

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Singaporean PM affirms high priority for bilateral relations in phone call with Vietnamese counterpart

April 21, 2021 by vietnamnews.vn

Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính during his phone talk with his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien-Loong on Tuesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

HÀ NỘI — Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien-Loong on Tuesday said his country gives high priority to relations with Việt Nam, during phone discussions with his Vietnamese counterpart Phạm Minh Chính.

Calling Chính to congratulate him over his election as Prime Minister of Việt Nam, Lee also appreciated Việt Nam’s success in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and in socio-economic development as well as external relations.

In reply, Chính said he hoped to work closely with the Singaporean PM to further promote the strategic partnership between the two countries across all fields.

The two government leaders rejoiced at the positive developments in bilateral cooperation despite difficulties brought by COVID-19. They noted that Singapore was the biggest investor in Việt Nam in 2020 and the first quarter of 2021.

They agreed to bolster joint work in fields of the countries’ potential and strength, such as finance, information technology, agro-fisheries, education-training, and infrastructure, while seeking to expand cooperation in areas related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution such as clean energy, smart city, innovation, digital economy, as well as the sharing of experience in management, economic development, and human resources training.

The two sides agreed to boost cooperation in responding to COVID-19 and facilitating the repatriation of each other’s citizens, and accelerate negotiations on travel preferential regulations between the two countries toward resuming safe commercial flights that suit the situation in each country and in the region to promote bilateral trade, investment and tourism ties.

Chính appreciated the close and effective cooperation between Việt Nam and Singapore at regional and international forums, and thanked Singapore for supporting Việt Nam as Chair of ASEAN in 2020. He asked Singapore to continue backing Việt Nam in its role as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the remainder of 2021.

The two PMs affirmed their resolve to make active contributions to building a strong, united and resilient ASEAN Community with a central role and common voice in regional and international peace and security issues.

Chính invited the Singaporean PM to visit Việt Nam at a suitable time. Lee accepted the invitation and expressed his wish to welcome the Vietnamese PM to Singapore. — VNS

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Vietnamese, Singaporean prime ministers discuss bilateral ties during phone talks

April 21, 2021 by tuoitrenews.vn

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh held phone talks with his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday, the Vietnam Government Portal reported.

During the conversation, PM Lee offered his congratulations to the newly-elected Vietnamese government leader and praised Vietnam’s successful organization of the 13th National Party Congress, effective management of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as socio-economic development and foreign affairs.

The premier affirmed that Singapore gives high priority to fostering relations with Vietnam.

PM Chinh thanked PM Lee for his congratulatory message and expressed his wish to work closely with the Singaporean leader to further strengthen the Vietnam-Singapore strategic partnership across all fields.

The two premiers rejoiced at the positive developments in bilateral cooperation despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, Singapore was the largest foreign investor in Vietnam, while the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP) model is operating very effectively, becoming a symbol for the success in economic collaboration between the two countries.

The leaders agreed to enhance cooperation in such fields as finance, information technology, agro-fisheries, education and training, infrastructure, clean energy, smart city development, digital economy and digitization, economic management, and human resource training.

Both sides will also boost coordination in response to the COVID-19 epidemic, facilitate the repatriation of citizens, and promote the negotiation on travel regulations between the two countries to enhance trade, investment, and tourism cooperation.

PM Chinh applauded the close and effective cooperation between both sides at regional and international forums.

He thanked Singapore for having supported Vietnam during its ASEAN chairmanship in 2020, asking the city-state to continue backing Vietnam in fulfilling its role as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council in 2021.

The Vietnamese PM took the occasion to invite his Singaporean counterpart to visit Vietnam at an appropriate time.

PM Lee also expressed his wish to welcome PM Chinh on a visit to Singapore in the near future.

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Vietnam warned easing monetary policy to cause asset price bubble: Experts

April 21, 2021 by hanoitimes.vn

Credit has not been effectively channeled into fields that contribute directly to economic growth and ultimately social prosperity, but to risky fields such as real estate, stock market or cryptocurrencies.

The current low-interest rate environment as a result of monetary easing policy adopted by the Vietnamese government is channeling social capital into risky fields of real estate or stock market, instead of production and business activities.

Anh Khanh urban residential area in Hoai Duc district. Photo: Pham Hung

Pham The Anh, chief economist at the Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR), told Hanoitimes in reference to the overheating of asset markets in recent months.

“With a cheap money policy from the central bank, investors tend to stay away from business and production expansion, which seems to be riskier than betting on real estate or stock markets,” Anh noted.

At present, Vietnam’s ratio of M2 money supply (covering cash in circulation and all deposits) to GDP is at nearly 200% and the credit-to-GDP ratio 140%, the highest among five major economies in ASEAN, said Anh, pointing out similar ratios of 60-70% in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Last year, Vietnam registered a credit expansion of 12,13%, while the nominal GDP growth stood at  2.91%. “This indicated credit has not been effectively channeled into fields that contribute directly for economic growth, and eventually for social prosperity,” he added.

For the past five years, credit into real estate rose eight-fold and currently makes up 20% of total outstanding loans.

“Taking into account an addition of 20% in total outstanding loans from consumer credit, which also includes loans for home purchases, the dependent level of the economy into banks’ credit is growing at a rapid rate,” stated Anh.

Anh added idle money from the people and enterprises pouring into asset markets could also increase social inequality as real estate properties are becoming more expensive and thus making it harder for low- to middle-income groups to purchase.

On this issue, economist Can Van Luc said asset bubble price would become not sustainable and   burst eventually, leading to severe consequences for the society.

“It is especially risky for those that are using financial leverage to invest in real estate, stock market or cryptocurrencies,” he noted, saying this is also a major issue for the global economy as global debt has now reached US$277 trillion, or 365% of world GDP.

Luc called for the government to act drastically in addressing hikes in land prices in many provinces/cities which have doubled or tripled in the past months in Vietnam by providing more transparent information on land planning, while working on measures to promote professionalism and transparency in the stock market.

In a recent meeting, Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Nguyen Thi Hong stressed the importance of tightening credit into risky fields and meeting growing capital needs for priority fields [agriculture, industry, small and medium enterprises], adding the move is in line with Vietnam’s ongoing restructuring process to ensure sustainable development and maintain stability in the banking sector.

In the first quarter of 2021, credit channeled into real estate was estimated at VND1,850 trillion (US$80.35 billion) up 3% against late 2020 and higher than the overall credit expansion rate of 2.93% for the period.

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Night-time services in Hanoi’s district to open every day

September 7, 2020 by hanoitimes.vn

The project for the development of the night-time industry in Hoan Kiem district will be implemented in two phases.

Authorities of Hoan Kiem district, the largest tourist destination of Hanoi, plan to allow entertainment and catering services to remain open every day instead of only on weekends in a bid to stimulate the night industry.

Night-time services in Hanoi’s district will open every day. Photo: Vietnamnews

The scope of night-time economic activities mainly covers the fields of cultural, entertainment services; gastronomy; shopping; health care; tourism and transportation; financial and banking activities.

The walking space in the Old Quarter and the cultural space of Phung Hung – Gam Cau streets are planned to link with the walking space around Hoan Kiem lake to create a harmonious premise for the development of the nocturnal industry. Outdoor activities, historical relics and heritage sites will remain open around the clock.

Pho Anh Quan, vice chairman of the Hoan Kiem District People’s Committee said that once approved, the project will be implemented in two phases. The first phase will see the expansion of commercial activities in some pedestrian streets while in the second phase, nightlife activities will be allowed throughout the district.

In addition, the district will continue improving the landscape and the lighting system, add more public restrooms and trash cans, as well as create more tourist attractions, Quan said.

In fact, the nighttime economy has been going on in the Hoan Kiem district for many years and developing under such forms as walking space, night market, food streets, convenience stores, cafes, bars, discos, karaoke, events, artistic and cultural programs, indoor entertainment, and outdoor entertainment activities at night.

However, economic activities at night are still poor, monotonous and unsustainable. At the same time, the district’s security and order is exposed to many potential risks and challenges.

In recent years, the number of international tourists staying in Hoan Kiem district increased rapidly, from 1.4 million in 2016 to 2.5 million visitors in 2019.

The district’s authorities set the target of diversifying night-time tourism products and services to improve visitors’ experiences, so that they would increase their stay and spending.

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