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Border controls

Border guards detect 51 illegal immigrants trying to enter Vietnam

by vov.vn

Among the group are a total of 35 Vietnamese expatriates residing in the Cambodian province of Kampong Chhnang who travelled by boat on March 4 to a border area in Hong Ngu district of Dong Thap province.

Soldiers stationed at Thuong Phuoc international border gate in Dong Thap province and Vinh Xuong gate in An Giang province originally detected the group and encouraged them to return back to Cambodia.

At present, the Vietnamese embassy and the overseas Vietnamese association in Cambodia are trying to support them to return to their homes in Cambodia as part of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) prevention measures.

Elsewhere, soldiers working at the Quang Long international border gate in Cao Bang province on March 4 found 16 illegal immigrants attempting to cross into the country.

The group were able to take advantage of drizzly conditions, fog which limited vision, in addition to the rugged mountainous terrain, in order to enter the nation illegally.

They were made up of Vietnamese labourers from 11 cities and provinces nationwide who went to work in China back in October, 2020.

Following their detection, the 16 illegal immigrants were brought to an isolation area as part of efforts against the potential spread of COVID-19. During the first two months the year border guards in Cao Bang province detected 3,500 illegal immigrants and placed them into quarantine.

Vietnamese products on show at India’s engineering, technology fair

by en.qdnd.vn

Among Vietnamese exhibitors, the Rang Dong Light Source & Vacuum Flask JSC showcases fishing lights and vacuum flasks. The THACO Chu Lai Mechanical Complex Co. Ltd introduces products of precision mechanics and automobile and motorbike spare parts. Meanwhile, the Son Ha Group, with about 30 percent of its export revenue coming from India, displays water heaters, water tanks, and stainless steel pipes.

The IETF, held biennially since 1975 by the Confederation of Indian Industry, is a leading exhibition for technology, machinery, equipment, electronics, mechanics, and electrical devices.

This year’s event features the most advanced machinery and technologies in such areas as environment and water and air pollution control, logistics solutions, metallurgical technology, infrastructure and property construction technology, smart building, automation, and 3D printing and related technologies.

Fairs on artificial intelligence, health and medical technology, mobile solutions, and game technology also are also taking place on the sidelines of IETF 2021.

Joining major businesses of India are a large number of firms from many countries, including the Netherlands, Germany, Romania, Bulgaria, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

The IETF 2021, scheduled to last through March 24, also serves as a platform for specialized conferences and online events for businesses to seek partners and cooperation chances.

Source: VNA

A long-term challenge

by en.nhandan.org.vn

The intensity of COVID-19 has initially “cooled down” in many nations around the world after the vaccination campaign has been deployed on a large scale. However, in some EU member states the situation remains serious and the EU is struggling to overcome the third wave of the pandemic. Contrary to the trend of easing social distancing, Hungary, France and the Czech Republic are the European countries tending to tighten prevention and control measures as the number of infections has increased recently. Statistics show that, while most Western European countries have recorded a declining or stable number of cases, about 100-200 per one million people per day, the figure is at around 300 in France and more than 600 in the Czech Republic.

French Health Minister Olivier Véran stated that in the next four to six weeks, France will maintain a nightly curfew and lockdown measures such as closing pubs, restaurants and museums, in a bid to protect the pandemic prevention and control efforts. Meanwhile, Gergely Gulyas, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff, said that Hungary has decided to extend a partial lockdown with infections expected to rise in the next two weeks. He highlighted that the next two weeks will be particularly difficult as the country must cope with the third COVID-19 wave. The Czech Republic and Hungary have taken measures to increase vaccine availability for the COVID-19 vaccination campaign amidst many opinions arguing that the EU’s licensing process is too slow. Relatively strict control measures in response to the pandemic have also been maintained in Germany. German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently emphasised that Germany is still in the third wave of the pandemic, while a local health official warned that without the maintenance of current measures, the third wave will be extremely difficult, and even uncontrollable.

A major problem currently facing the EU countries is that despite the complicated development of the pandemic, the progress of COVID-19 vaccine coverage in the bloc is quite slow. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen recently stated that 26 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine had been delivered and 70% of adults in 27 EU countries will be vaccinated by the end of this summer. However, she admitted the failure in the EU’s process of approving and implementing the COVID-19 vaccination program, noting that the bloc has learned lessons about the delay in the licensing of vaccines as well as the overoptimistic psychology of EU officials about the production and delivery progress of vaccines. If compared with the UK, which has left the “European common roof”, the EU’s vaccination progress is disappointing. While the EU is still struggling with the approval and implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination program, in February, about 30% of the UK population was vaccinated, thus creating a positive effect for the country’s important economic sectors.

To combat the pandemic and soon recover the economy, the European Commissioner for Health recently urged countries to speed up vaccination and accelerate the screening and decoding of the SARS-CoV-2 genome sequence in service of the more detailed supervision of variants. The “EU family” is also expected to study the proposal for a digital vaccine passport (allowing people with a certificate of vaccination to travel freely) in order to facilitate intra-bloc travel and salvage the upcoming summer tourism season. However, this proposal is still under controversy which shows no sign of coming to an end. Meanwhile, the head of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) Andrea Ammon warned the risk of SARS-CoV-2 being likely to persist for a long time despite the slowdown in global infection. According to her, the world needs to prepare for a scenario that the virus will still “stick to” people and experts may have to continue to produce vaccines to prevent the disease, similar to with the seasonal flu.

Given the emergence of more and more new variants of SARS-CoV-2 with a greater danger level, the possibility of having to “co-exist” with COVID-19 is increasing and this is a long-term challenge for the EU as well as for the whole of humanity. This fact is demanding the EU and other countries worldwide to take faster response in pandemic fight and adapt better and more flexibly to soon bring the economy out of the “dark period” caused by the pandemic.

Việt Nam to begin COVID-19 vaccinations on March 8: Health minister

by vietnamnews.vn

Minister of Health Nguyễn Thanh Long at Friday meeting of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control. — VNA/VNS Photo Doãn Tấn

HÀ NỘI — Vaccinations using the recently-imported AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine are expected to start on Monday, Minister of Health Nguyễn Thanh Long informed a meeting of the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control on Friday.

The first batch comprising over 117,600 doses of the vaccine manufactured in the Republic of Korea (RoK), arrived in Việt Nam on February 24 . After holding working sessions with the producer, Việt Nam has obtained an accreditation certificate for the batch from the RoK.

Long said the doses, verified by the ministry, met the conditions for vaccination in Việt Nam.

On Saturday, the health minister will chair a conference to launch the vaccination plan and provide training for medical staff nationwide in the use and storage of the vaccine, as well as the handling of post-injection complications.

According to the official, priority for vaccination will be given to people at the front line of the fight against COVID-19, including health, army, police, customs and immigration personnel; those working in sectors offering essential services like aviation, transport, tourism and education; people with chronic illnesses or above 65 years old; those living in pandemic-hit areas; the poor and beneficiaries of social welfare.

Those who get the shots will be monitored via digital health records and receive e-certificates for their completion of inoculation.

Five million doses of vaccines, mostly manufactured by AstraZeneca, are expected to be provided to Việt Nam this year through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) Facility programme conducted by the World Health Organization, GAVI, UNICEF and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

Another 25 million doses under this initiative are slated to arrive in Việt Nam next year.

At the meeting of the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control on Friday, Deputy Prime Minister Vũ Đức Đam said the safety of the vaccination programme should be ensured at the highest level as a task of utmost importance.

“The mass vaccination might have incidents. If we don’t prepare well, the incidents will turn into serious ones,” he told the meeting.

He urged for accelerating the research and production of locally-made vaccines, saying “the process must follow all of the requested steps but must be completed as soon as possible”.

Việt Nam has three local vaccine candidates, one of which has finished the first trial phase with good results and is in the second phase. The other two will enter human trials in the near future.

“If Việt Nam can successfully develop domestic vaccines, we can have enough stocks for the population of 100 million people. According to preliminary information, the COVID-19 vaccine only produces antibodies for a certain time. It is likely that the vaccines must be injected repeatedly every year. This is also an opportunity for Việt Nam’s vaccine study capacity to reach a new level in order to prepare and respond to other diseases that may occur in the future.”

“Vaccines are a long-term solution to control the pandemic globally in six months to one year. In spite of that, we must still strictly follow preventive measures as we have done,” he said.

Đam urged people to maintain their vigilance and asked schools, healthcare facilities, markets, supermarkets and hotels to self assess their safety level and update it on a COVID-19 safety map at antoancovid.vn .

Venues that fail to update the safety level will have their activities suspended, he said.

The Deputy Prime Minister tasked the health ministry, the ministries of foreign affairs, culture, sports and tourism with mapping out plans and creating conditions for those who have been vaccinated in other countries to enter Việt Nam in the coming time while still ensuring safety. — VNS

Hanoi to re-open religious establishments, relic sites on March 8

by en.vietnamplus.vn

Hanoi to re-open religious establishments, relic sites on March 8 hinh anh 1 Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Chu Xuan Dung speaks at a meeting on March 5. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Religious establishments, relic sites and tourist attractions in Hanoi will re-open on March 8 with preventive measures being still in place after they were temporarily closed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Chu Xuan Dung said at a meeting on March 5.

Religious activities should be downsized in their scale, and organised online to prevent the spread of the disease, he stressed.

Dung ordered localities to enhance inspection and mete out harsh punishments to any violations of pandemic prevention, particularly restaurants, coffee shops, tea stalls and karaoke parlours, among others who resume operations without getting permission.

Additionally, drastic measures must be deployed to monitor people coming from pandemic-hit areas, while online health declarations using QR code should be carried out from March 5, he added.

The capital city has gone through 17 days without new COVID-19 infections. Thirty-five cases have been logged in the city since the latest COVID-19 wave hit the country on January 27.

Although the pandemic has been put under control, the city needs to strictly follow pandemic prevention measures set out by the Government, the municipal Party Committee and the municipal People’s Committee.

The communications work will be promoted to raise public awareness of the prevention measures, particularly the Ministry of Health’s 5K message: 5K message: khau trang (face mask), khu khuan (disinfection), khoang cach (distance), khong tu tap (no gathering) and khai bao y te (health declaration)./.

VNA

Vietnam Social Security, USAID strive for sustainable health system

by vov.vn

The agreement will witness USAID provide technical assistance to the Vietnam Social Security in order to help them carry out their sustainable health system development project, with the ultimate aim to accelerate the implementation of the health insurance policy over the coming four years. The project will therefore support the country’s transition to full financial autonomy for the HIV and Tuberculosis (TB) Program.

USAID will provide support for Vietnam Social Security across three main areas, including implementing health insurance policies, planning in terms of financial management, along with controlling and ensuring the rationality of costs for health services through statistical analysis of insurance and funding sources. This assistance will take place along with building tools to track and monitor health insurance claims whilst renovating payment methods.

The agency will also exchange information, share their experience, and support Vietnam Social Security in applying information technology to health insurance policy implementation.

During the signing ceremony, Yastishock expressed her appreciation for the close partnership with Vietnam Social Insurance, affirming that her organisation will continue working on improving the financial management and governance capacity of Vietnam Social Insurance. The two sides will work together in order to achieve an effective, fair, and responsible management of the health insurance fund.

The signing of this MoU therefore reinforces USAID’s commitment to supporting Vietnamese efforts on its journey towards enjoying autonomy with regard to health financing, along with building a sustainable health system. This will ultimately contribute to the nation’s goal of reaching universal health coverage, according to Yastishock.

In response, Son emphasised that the MoU signed between Vietnam Social Security and USAID represents the first document officially signed between the two sides, while highlighting the signing as a significant event that coincides with the 25th anniversary of joint ties and 25 years of the Vietnam Social Security.

The event can be viewed as an important premise that serves to mark the start of a new phase of co-operation between Vietnam Social Security and USAID, therefore deepening their partnership through a wide range of technical assistance activities in this regard.

Son also expressed his belief that through the sustained efforts of the Vietnam Social Insurance and the effective help of international organisations such as USAID, the agency will rapidly build a modern, sustainable, and effective healthcare insurance system that meets people’s satisfaction. Statistics reveal that 95% of the population will have health insurance coverage by 2025, with over 80% of the population being satisfied, according to the target assigned by the Government, he noted.

The past five years has seen USAID work closely alongside various Vietnamese Government agencies, including the VSS, in order to increase health insurance coverage for HIV treatment and antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. This close collaboration includes updating more than 20 policies that allow for the expansion of health insurance coverage for HIV treatment and ARV drugs. In addition, it also covers 440 independent HIV treatment facilities moving into the public health care system, meaning that these facilities become eligible to pay for HIV services through the health insurance fund.

As a result of these changes, more than 90% of HIV patients nationwide become involved in health insurance and can access HIV treatment services as covered by the health insurance fund. Moving forward, the health insurance fund will set aside a budget in order to purchase ARV drugs for more than two-thirds of all HIV patients across the country.