Ecomm national dispatcher test

First clinical tests of locally-produced COVID-19 vaccine get underway

December 10, 2020 by vov.vn

According to Minister of Health Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thanh Long, in the previous research, Nanocovax has undergone all necessary safety tests, with positive results being collected after conducting trials on monkey and mice.

Following this, the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology announced on December 7 the test results of Nanocovax, with a vaccinated hamster being exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus for a 14-day period but not becoming infected with the virus and remaining negative.

This led to the National Ethical Council for Biomedical Research convening a meeting on December 9 in order to evaluate the research documents from the first and second clinical trial phases for local COVID-19 vaccine Nanocovax.

The Military Medical Academy is therefore anticipated to launch the next stage of the clinical trial programme for the COVID-19 vaccine on December 10, whilst also announcing the recruitment of volunteers to participate in future research activities.

The first vaccine shot is set to be given to volunteers who are eligible to participate in the first phase of research on December 17.

To ensure the safety of the volunteers during the trials, the first three people will be injected with a 25 microrgram (mcg) dose of the trial vaccine, with their health conditions being assessed following a period of 72 hours.

The next dose of the experimental vaccine, along with the number of participants in the scheme, will be decided after the results of the first dose given to the three people have been reported. The experimental period for each participant in the programme will be approximately 56 days.

Nanogen initially started their COVID-19 vaccine project in January. Immediately after being licensed by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Nanogen moved to invest a sum of roughly VND200 billion to build three factories, whilst also purchasing all necessary materials for research activities.

Hanoi woman tests positive for Covid-19 again after recovery

March 2, 2021 by english.thesaigontimes.vn

Hanoi woman tests positive for Covid-19 again after recovery

The Saigon Times

A medical worker handles samples for Covid-19 testing. A 48-year-old Covid-19 patient in Hanoi who had recovered has tested positive again – PHOTO: VNA

HCMC – A 48-year-old woman in Hanoi who had recovered from Covid-19 has tested positive again, according to Khong Minh Tuan, deputy director of the Hanoi Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The patient, who resides in the capital city’s Dich Vong Hau Ward, Cau Giay District, is the wife of the 1,866th Covid-19 patient.

The woman was identified as the country’s 1,958th Covid-19 patient and was discharged from the hospital on February 27. She was self-quarantined at home until she tested positive for Covid-19 again.

Earlier on February 24, another woman who also lives in Cau Giay District tested positive for Covid-19 again after her treatment from January 30 to February 20.

Up to now, Vietnam has reported many recovered coronavirus patients testing positive again, but none of them caused community transmission after recovery.

Hanoi’s first metro line to conduct test run by end-2020

November 9, 2020 by vov.vn

The Hanoi Metropolitan Railway Management Board (MRB) under the Ministry of Transport (MOT) said that 110 experts of China Railway Sixth Group – the EPC contractor – and eight of the French consultancy Apave-Certifier-Tricc (ACT) consortium will carry out the safety evaluation and remaining tasks in November.

Currently, some 90 experts and personnel of the general contractor and one French expert have arrived in Hanoi for the trial operation of Cat Linh – Ha Dong line. Among them, 30 are under COVID-19 quarantine.

According to the MRB, the purpose of commissioning the line is to test and evaluate its safety and the skills of the operating personnel in accordance with the actual run chart.

The MRB added that the overall acceptance of the project will include both the test for pre-acceptance of the project and the qualifications of the operating staff. The general contractor will have to repair any items that fail to meet the requirements.

Especially, the MRB stressed that the trial operation and acceptance phase of the project is not the last one before putting the project into commercial operation. The Cat Linh – Ha Dong line will still have to undergo a host of evaluation tests.

Accordingly, the consultants will evaluate and issue a certificate for the safety and quality system of the project and submit to the Vietnam Register for appraisal and certification. After that, the investor will accept and hand over the project to the Hanoi People’s Committee for official running. The process is predicted to be protracted.

Expectation from the Minister of Transport’s promise

At a National Assembly sitting on November 3, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The admitted that the progress of urban railway traffic projects was behind schedule.

In the near future, the Ministry of Transport will coordinate closely with big cities’ administrations so that new urban railway projects can avoid repeating such delays, Mr. The said.

Commitments of Mr. The received special attention from the public.

According to the minister, although the workload at Hanoi’s first metro line project is almost completed, the safety evaluation carried out by ACT has not made much progress. The Chinese general contractor has neither provided manufacturers’ certificates, technical documents, test results nor conducted a full evaluation of the field tests. Therefore, ACT has not been able to complete the safety assessment due to insufficient grounds for independent consultancy.

ACT has come up with a solution that they will conduct field validation during the last 20 days of operation and emergency situation drills.

With the minister’s commitment, it is expected that the Cat Linh – Ha Dong railway will be in service in early 2021 as planned.

Work on the Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line began in 2011 and was originally scheduled for completion in 2013. But several hurdles, including loan disbursement issues with China that were only resolved in December 2017, have stalled it for years.

The first urban metro line is one of the key public transport projects in Hanoi. Since September 2018, this project has tested all 13 trains, with an average speed of 35 kilometers per hour.

Project costs have more than doubled from the original VND8.8 trillion (US$378 million) to VND18 trillion (US$774 million), according to state auditors.

When complete, the country’s first metro line will run 13 kilometers from Cat Linh station in downtown Dong Da district to Yen Nghia station in southwest Ha Dong district.

European nations tighten virus curbs as Christmas surge fears grow

December 16, 2020 by www.vir.com.vn

Christmas illuminations are seen above shoppers on Regent Street in the main high-street shopping area of London on December 15, 2020 ahead of fresh measures for the capital amid rising novel coronavirus infection rates. The British capital faces tougher Covid-19 measures within days, the UK government said on December 14, with a new coronavirus variant emerging as a possible cause for rapidly rising infection rates.(DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP)

Hopes for an end to the pandemic were boosted by positive assessments of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, but a study warned that at least a fifth of the world’s population in poorer nations may not have access to vaccines until 2022.

With the virus resurgent in Europe, Germany closed non-essential shops and schools, swathes of England came under tighter curbs, and Denmark extended its restrictions.

“It’s very good that we’re closing the shops, it’s for our health. We can’t wait for things to fall apart,” said shopper Jurgen in Berlin, where people were rushing to finish their Christmas purchases before the shutdown.

Germany had coped relatively well with the first wave in the spring, but it has struggled to contain a resurgence in recent months and its health minister said it wanted the European Union to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine “before Christmas”.

Calls have been growing for the EU health regulator to speed up its vaccines decision process, with the bloc lagging behind a growing number of nations that have authorised the drug.

Britain has already started using it, but high infection numbers forced London on Wednesday to join large parts of central and northern England under tough, economically painful restrictions.

Pubs, bars, restaurants and other hospitality sites will close, apart from takeaways, as will theatres and other entertainment venues.

“The hospitality business needs this week, and it’s devastating. It is devastatingly awful,” said Lesley Lewis, owner of The French House, a London pub.

“But if this is what it takes to save lives, that’s what we have to do.”

The Netherlands, France and Turkey have also announced restrictions to be in force over the holiday season.

– Upbeat Moderna assessment –

Known worldwide infections are nearing 73 million, with more than 1.6 million deaths.

The United States remains the hardest-hit nation, setting a record for new daily infections on Tuesday with more than 248,000 cases.

The Washington National Cathedral rang its bells 300 times Tuesday in memory of the 300,000 people who have lost their lives to coronavirus in the United States.

The situation has become severe in California, where officials ordered thousands of extra body bags as Los Angeles was left with fewer than 100 available intensive care beds for a county of 10 million people.

The US has started using the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday issued an upbeat briefing about the Moderna candidate too, ahead of a meeting of experts on whether to grant it emergency approval.

The regulator also approved the country’s first rapid at-home coronavirus test for Covid-19, which is available over-the-counter and produces a result in around 20 minutes.

President-elect Joe Biden said Tuesday that he would be vaccinated in public.

– Poorer nations left behind? –

With wealthy nations reserving more than half of next year’s potential doses, there are fears the poorer parts of the world will be left behind.

Even if the drug makers all produce effective, safe vaccines and meet their maximum global manufacturing targets, a study published Wednesday by researchers from Johns Hopkins University warned that “at least a fifth of the world’s population would not have access” until 2022.

The World Health Organization has said it is in talks with Pfizer and Moderna about including their vaccines at affordable prices for poor countries.

The widespread deployment of vaccines is seen as crucial to reviving the global economy.

“I’ve been at home for the past eight months, there’s been no income coming in,” said Ashwin Pal, a dive operator in Fiji, where the lack of visitors has devastated the key tourism sector.

“Life’s been pretty tough.”

AFP

Hanoi’s indoor services allowed to reopen under strict safety guidelines

March 2, 2021 by sggpnews.org.vn

The statement was made at the municipal Steering Committee on Covid-19 Prevention and Control’s meeting on March 1 with the participation of Vice chairman of the People’s Committee of Hanoi, Chu Xuan Dung.

The closure order has been continuing to impose on discos, bars, karaoke parlors, Internet shops, street food vendors, coffee and iced tea stalls on pavements.

The capital’s government has considered the relaxation on reopening of public religious activities of festivals and historical sites. The city’s authority plans to delegate districts to decide to lift the restrictions on religious sites in next days.

On the other hand, the Department of Culture and Sport, the Department of Health of Hanoi must coordinate with the local authorities of My Duc District to strictly implement Covid-19 prevention measures while waiting for decision on reopening of Huong Pagoda.

There have been no cases of community transmission of coronavirus recorded in Hanoi in the past 14 days, Deputy director of the Department of Health, Hoang Duc Hanh confirmed.

However, the city could see new coronavirus cases when neighboring localities relax social-distancing recommendations for the economic development. Hanoi should continue strictly respect preventive measures to keep the pandemic under control, especially the implementation of the Health Ministry’s 5K message, Khau trang (facemask) – Khu khuan (disinfection) – Khoang cach (distance) – Khong tu tap (no gathering) – Khai bao y te (health declaration), he added.

Deputy director of the Hanoi Center for Disease Control (CDC), Khong Minh Tuan, said that people coming to or returning from Hai Duong Province from March 3 have to submit health declarations. Residents who come back the city from Cam Giang, Kinh Mon, Kim Thanh and Hai Duong City have to get a test for coronavirus and pay for the two-week quarantine period.

Hanoi’s indoor services allowed to reopen under strict safety guidelines ảnh 1

Hanoi’s My Duc District orders to suspend the annual Huong Pagoda Festival and stop receiving visitors in an attempt to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Nguyen Quoc – Translated by Kim Khanh

Vietnam backs ongoing activities run by UN Mission in South Sudan

March 3, 2021 by vov.vn

During a virtual conference of the UN Security Council held on March 2 among countries participating in the UNMISS’ activities, Ambassador Quy stressed positive Vietnamese contributions to the UN’s peace keeping activities in the East African nation. This includes the implementation of a level-two field hospital, thereby affirming continued Vietnamese support for the UNMISS’s activities moving forward.

The Ambassador also expressed his hope that the UNMISS’s activities will prove to be suitable for driving changes in South Sudan, including enhancing assistance to the transitional process, along with improving the efficiency of civilians’ protection work.

The online conference was held with David Shearer, special representative of the UN Secretary General for South Sudan and Head of the UNMISS, in attendance. Participants also listened to a report given by Shearer and discussed the UNMISS’s operation over the past 12 months.

The UNMISS was first established in 2011 and has its mandate extended each year. The group’s objective is to consolidate peace and security, thereby helping to establish conditions for development in South Sudan with a view to strengthening the capacity of the South Sudanese Government to govern effectively and democratically whilst establishing strong ties with its neighbours.

Vietnam officially engaged in the UN’s peace keeping activities and sent representative to the UNMISS in 2014. Currently, the nation is in the process of running the second level-two field hospital in Bentiu with 63 staff members, including 10 women. Moving forward, it is preparing to dispatch staff to operate the third level-two field hospital later this month.