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Vietnamese people will have access to COVID-19 vaccination free of charge in the long term like other types of vaccine included in the country’s Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI), according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

Vietnam has made urgent efforts to obtain COVID-19 vaccines as soon as possible, but the number of vaccine shots distributed to the country in the coming time is still limited, the committee said during a meeting on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Health has listed 11 groups of individuals who will be the first to receive COVID-19 vaccination next month.

When supply is enough, all Vietnamese people will have access to free COVID-19 inoculation in the long run like other types of vaccine included in the EPI.

A small number of vaccine doses will be sold to people who can afford them.

The EPI started in Vietnam in 1981, initiated by the Ministry of Health with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The initial goal of the program was to provide free immunization to children under one year old to protect them from six common and highly fatal infectious diseases.

By 2010, the program had included 11 types of vaccine which protect people against tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, hepatitis B, measles, Japanese encephalitis, cholera, typhoid, and pneumonia/meningitis caused by Hib.

According to Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long, Vietnam will need approximately 150 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine for all citizens.

The Southeast Asian country will receive 30 million free doses supplied by COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) in 2021.

Vietnam has also purchased 30 million more doses from AstraZeneca, which will be delivered this year.

The first batch containing 117,600 AstraZeneca vaccine shots arrived at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday morning.

On February 26, the second phase of the human trial of made-in-Vietnam COVID-19 vaccine Nanocovax will begin in Hanoi and the Mekong Delta province of Long An.

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A general hospital in the north-central Vietnamese province of Thanh Hoa has been temporarily locked down after a man with serious lung problems died at the facility, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

The Bim Son General Hospital, located in the namesake town in Thanh Hoa, was put under temporary lockdown starting 5:30 pm on Tuesday.

The decision came after L.Q.M., 37, who hailed from the south-central province of Ninh Thuan, passed away at the infirmary earlier the same day, said Trinh Xuan Hiep, director of the health office in Bim Son Town.

A epidemiological investigation showed that M. had been to a virus-hit area in Binh Hung Hoa B Ward, Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City before traveling to his wife’s hometown in Ha Trung District, Thanh Hoa on February 5.

M. began having symptoms such as coughing and difficulty breathing and headed to a commune-level medical center for treatment.

The man was admitted to Bim Son General Hospital on February 21 as his condition worsened. His lung scan showed signs of bronchitis.

Prior to his hospital admission, M. had a history of type 2 diabetes and complications from liver and kidney failure.

He was treated and quarantined at the infirmary, as well as had his samples collected for COVID-19 testing.

The result came back negative for the novel coronavirus on February 22.

On February 23, M. had high fever and underwent a lung X-ray, whose result showed signs of pneumonia.

His condition quickly deteriorated as he repeatedly suffered apnea and a cardiac arrest.

M. passed away at 3:00 pm the same day.

His samples have been collected for a second COVID-19 test and the result will be announced by the Thanh Hoa Center for Disease Control later.

Multiple areas inside Bim Son General Hospital have been disinfected.

Local authorities are tracking all people who had contact with the man over the past days.

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Vietnam’s Ministry of Health reported 11 domestically-transmitted COVID-19 infections along with 73 recoveries on Wednesday, with Hai Duong Province continuing to be the country’s largest cluster.

All the new cases were documented in Hai Duong, located in northern Vietnam, the health ministry said.

The ministry announced 43 recoveries in an update at 6:00 am on Wednesday and 30 others at 6:00 pm the same day.

Vietnam had gone nearly two months logging zero domestic cases before it detected the first one on January 27 and confirmed it one day later, according to the health ministry’s data.

A total of 820 community-based cases have been confirmed in 13 provinces and cities since then, making it the most serious wave to have struck Vietnam after the first-ever COVID-19 patient was announced in the country on January 23, 2020.

Over 80 percent of these patients are symptomless while almost 15 percent exhibit mild symptoms, according to the health ministry’s analysis.

In this latest wave, 636 cases were recorded in Hai Duong, 61 in Quang Ninh Province, 27 in Gia Lai Province, 35 in Hanoi, five in Bac Ninh Province, two in Bac Giang Province, 36 in Ho Chi Minh City, two in Hoa Binh Province, one in Ha Giang Province, three in Dien Bien Province, six in Binh Duong Province, four in Hai Phong, and two in Hung Yen Province.

Daily new infections have been in decline in recent days thanks to social distancing, contact tracing, and targeted testing and lockdowns, the health ministry said, adding that community contagion in the epicenter of Hai Duong has also decelerated.

Vietnam has recorded 2,412 coronavirus cases, including 1,513 local infections, as of Wednesday night, with 1,790 recoveries and 35 virus-related fatalities, according to the Ministry of Health’s data.

The dead had suffered from comorbid medical problems, including 31 in Da Nang, three in Quang Nam Province, and one in Quang Tri Province.

The government is quarantining over 88,500 people who had contact with infected patients or made an entry from virus-plagued places.

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A 27-year-old Vietnamese comic series based loosely on the popular ‘Voltron’ animated series of the 1980s is getting republished in Vietnam, stirring up excitement among a generation of readers while prompting worries about copyright infringement.

Dung si Hesman (Hero Hesman) was a 160-volume comic series by ‘adaption arist’ Hung Lan. It was published for the first time in Vietnam in 1992.

The sci-fi adventure superhero comic follows the protagonist, Hesman the robot, as he battles evil forces in the galaxy in a fictional future set in the 23rd century.

It was a huge hit among Vietnamese children and youth at a time when entertainment options were scarce in the absence of computer games and the Internet, with its circulation reaching 160,000 copies per volume at times.

Many Vietnamese millennials recall queuing up and fighting with other kids at local bookstores to rent the newest volumes of Dung si Hesman when they first got out.

Collecting spin-off items were also popular with young Hesman fans at the time.

A full collection of 160 ‘Dung si Hesman’ volumes is seen in this photo by Erik Le.

The nostalgic comic series is getting republished this summer by the Van Hoc (Literature) Publishing House and distributed by Hanoibooks, using scanned images of the original comic, the publisher and distributor said at a launch event on Sunday.

The first five volumes of the reprinted Dung si Hesman have already been available at bookstores nationwide since August.

The 2019 version will also run for 160 volumes like the original series, with an expected circulation of 2,000 copies per volume.

Its artist, Hung Lan, expressed his hope that the 2019 republication would appeal not only to nostalgic millennials but also to Vietnam’s Gen Z readers.

Artist Hung Lan (C) and fans pose for a photo at the launch event of the reprinted ‘Dung si Hesman’ comic. Photo: Mi Ly / Tuoi Tre

News of the reprint has caused fresh concerns about the comic’s violation of the copyrigh of the source material, an American animated series dating back to the 1980s.

Dung si Hesman is adapted by Hung Lan from Voltron: Defender of the Universe , an animated series produced by World Events Productions (WEP) in the U.S. from 1984 to 1985.

Hung Lan, 63, said he modeled his characters on those in the Voltron series and renamed the protagonist Hesman, a pun on ‘He is [a] man,’ to appeal to Vietnamese readers.

The Vietnamese artist added he only derived inspiration from Voltron for the first four volumes of Dung si Hesman , while the rest of the series are the results of his creativity at work.

The artist was referring to additional characters and original plots for more than 150 installments of the series.

A ‘Voltron’ artwork is seen in this photo. Photo: WEP

A representative of Hanoibooks told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper it has worked solely with Hung Lan to have the comic republished and has not contacted WEP regarding copyright issues.

Hung Lan said he has always credited himself as an “adaptation artist” and not the “author” of the Hesman series.

He has only received “symbolic” royalties for his work, the man noted.

In a recent interview with Van Nghe Cong An newspaper, Lan underlined that right from the publication of the very first book in 1992, he required that the work be credited as “Hung Lan adapts from Voltron animated movie” on the comic book cover, never claiming he is the original author.

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Accordingly, the ministry recommended the PM direct the Ministry of Health to issue consistent guidance on the circulation of people, goods and vehicles between pandemic-hit localities and other localities, while mobilising units capable of conducting COVID-19 testing to support pandemic-hit provinces and serve the needs of COVID-19 testing for drivers in the shortest possible time, aiming to reduce congestion in the circulation of goods from the pandemic areas outside.

For localities, it is necessary to implement measures to support goods circulation and ensure that vehicles transporting goods in service of the people’s consumption and production activities can move smoothly.

Pandemic-hit localities and neighbouring localities should proactively work with experienced cities and provinces to organise safe goods transportation and circulation models that are suitable to the practical conditions and ensure effective COVID-19 prevention and control.

In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development should coordinate with relevant agencies in guiding the agro-forestry and fishery production process to ensure disease prevention and control, as well as inform the industry and trade sector about the agricultural commodities of food and disease safety to accelerate domestic consumption and serve exports.

* Hyosung Vietnam Real Estate JSC has recently donated VND580 million (US$25,262), including VND500 million in cash and VND80 million worth of medical masks and antiseptic water, to support the anti-COVID-19 efforts in Hai Duong Province’s Kinh Mon Town.

Hyosung Vietnam Real Estate JSC donates VND580 million to Kinh Mon Town.

In total, from January 30 to February 22, Kinh Mon has received more than VND8 billion (US$348,484) in donations from 80 agencies, businesses and philanthropists for its pandemic fight.

* Students in the northern province of Quang Ninh will return to school from March 1 after the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday was extended due to the COVID-19 outbreak, heard a meeting of the standing board of the provincial Party Committee on February 22.

However, COVID-19 prevention and control measures will be tightened at the local schools. Notably, schools in Dong Trieu Town, which borders Hai Duong Province’s Chi Linh City – a COVID-19 hotspot – will reopen in one week, depending on the situation at the time.

* Lockdown and social distancing measures were lifted in 14 out of 18 areas in Hanoi, Director of the municipal Department of Health Nguyen Khac Hien reported on February 22.

Addressing a meeting of the municipal Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control on the same day, Hien said if there are no more suspected cases of SARS-CoV-2 found this week, the city will remove lockdown measures in the remaining areas.

According to Vice Director of the department Hoang Duc Hanh, Hanoi has basically completed SARS-CoV-2 testing for people returning from the northern province of Hai Duong – the country’s largest COVID-19 hotspot.

Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Chu Xuan Dung speaks at the meeting.

Meanwhile, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Chu Xuan Dung stressed that although Hanoi has gone through seven straight days with no new COVID-19 cases recorded, the risk of infection in the community remains high.

He asked the committee and local anti-pandemic forces to continue strictly implementing preventive measures and conducting SARS-CoV-2 testing at hospitals, health facilities, clinics and concentrated quarantine areas, in order to effectively contain the spread of the pandemic.