Ttntag vietnam life

Vietnam is currently developing four COVID-19 vaccines, one of which is expected to be available by the fourth quarter of this year.

The four made-in-Vietnam COVID-19 vaccines are being developed by Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Vaccine and Biological Production Company No.1 (VABIOTECH), the Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biologicals (IVAC), and the Center for Research and Production of Vaccines and Biologicals (Polyvac).

Nanogen’s vaccine, named Nanocovax, is anticipated to be available by the fourth quarter of this year and put into use in 2022, according to the Ministry of Health.

One of Nanocovax’s most touted characteristics is that its storage requirements only call for temperatures between two and eight degrees Celsius, making it relatively easy to store and transport.

After a successful round of animal testing, the vaccine entered its first phase of human trials between December 17, 2020 and February 9, 2021, with the participation of 60 volunteers.

The second phase of human trials began on February 26, with the number of volunteers expected to be 560.

If the results of this second phase are promising, the final phase will likely start in May with 10,000 to 15,000 volunteers, said Do Quyet, director of the Military Medical University – the institution charged with conducting the human trial.

Meanwhile, human trials for IVAC’s COVID-19 vaccine – Covivac – commenced on March 15 and are being carried out by the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology at Hanoi Medical University.

The first phase includes 120 volunteers divided into five groups.

A mid-term report of this phase is expected to be completed by July.

Phase two of the IVAC human trials will commence right after the end of its first phase, with 300 volunteers to receive doses of the vaccine in Thai Binh Province.

Vietnam’s third homegrown COVID-19 vaccine, developed by VABIOTECH, will also enter its human trial phase by the end of 2021, according to Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan.

VABIOTECH has yet to announce an official name for its vaccine.

Details regarding the country’s fourth homegrown vaccine, Polyvac, have yet to be released.

The Vietnamese government has stated it plans to acquire a total of 150 million vaccine doses, with 60 million already secured from AstraZeneca and the World Health Organization’s COVAX scheme.

The country received its first COVID-19 vaccine shipment on February 24 – a batch of 117,600 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine – and began COVID-19 inoculation on March 8.

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Young members of ‘rare blood clubs’ in Hanoi and northern localities are doing their best to make sure hospital patients with uncommon blood types have the precious liquid they need to survive.

Blood banks across Vietnam seem constantly low on stock of rare blood types.

Some young people have banded together to create an emergency response group capable of meeting the needs of patients with rare blood types who require life-saving transfusions.

Some blood types are present in less than one in every 1,000 people.

This means that patients with these blood types who are in need of life-saving blood often find themselves in a race against the clock to find a donor.

This has begun to change over the past several years as ‘rare blood clubs’ begin to grow in popularity across northern Vietnam.

Life-saving blood banks

Nguyen Thi Nham, a resident of Thanh Hoa Province, remembers receiving a call seven years ago from a hospital in dire need of her blood.

Nguyen Thi Nham, from Thanh Hoa Province in north-central Vietnam, has donated blood 11 times. Photo: N. Nguyen / Tuoi Tre

The patient in need had Rh (D) negative blood, a type found in just 0.1 percent of the Vietnamese population.

With such a low prevalence of Rh (D) negative blood in the population, it was no surprise that the hospital had none in its store.

Nham rushed to the hospital right after hanging up the phone, well aware that she had very little time to spare.

“The patient was in need of blood so I knew I had to help,” she shared.

Nham viewed the incident as a call to action, prompting her to join several clubs set up by people with less common blood types in order to help those in need.

Now, at 28 years old, she has donated blood 11 times, mostly in emergency cases, to save patients in a critical condition.

“I don’t know who the recipients are, all I know is that they are carrying the same blood type as mine,” she said.

While Nham has always been eager to help people with her blood type, those around her did not always offer their support.

Her parents, for instance, were worried that donating blood might take a toll on her health.

Over time, however, she won their support by proving that donating blood kept her both physically and mentally upbeat.

“I’m happy that my blood can save someone’s life,” Nham said.

Nham’s pride is echoed by 31-year-old Nguyen Luong Hieu, a resident of Hoai Duc District in Hanoi.

Hieu also has a Rh (D) negative blood type and has donated blood 19 times.

He shared that those with rare blood in their veins are now on standby as ‘rare blood banks,’ on call and ready to help out in case of emergency.

In a particular instance, Hieu and three other members of a local rare blood club braved torrential rains to make it to the hospital in time for a transfusion.

“All we knew then was that there were patients in life-threatening conditions and that their families could not find a suitable, willing donor,” Hieu shared.

Members of a Hanoi-based rare blood club are seen in this supplied photo.

Pham Quoc Cuong, a 23-year-old staffer at the 108 Military Central Hospital in the capital, is also a member of a rare blood club.

Cuong has type B negative, which makes up less than two percent of the population, according to www.redcrossblood.org.

Despite his young age, he has taken part in 14 blood donations and is currently preparing for the 15th time.

Like Nham’s parents, Cuong’s family fiercely rejected the idea out of fear it would affect his health, forcing the young man to give blood behind his family’s back.

It was only after he donated blood for the 11th time that his mother found out about his deeds.

Cuong eventually persuaded his parents to give him their blessing by explaining the pros and cons of blood donation, as well as describing his own experiences.

“I was scared at first, but got addicted to it later on,” he shared.

“I’ve experienced improvement in my immune system and overall health and well-being.

“Most importantly, we’re doing our part to help give others a new life.”

Cuong is active in encouraging others to become blood donors.

Many young rare blood donors, including Nham, are organ donors as well – a choice they see as a means to save lives even after death.

“Becoming a rare blood and organ donor is what makes me most happy,” Nham said.

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Karaoke noise has become a hot topic in Vietnam recently, as many cities and provinces are trying to take down the noise pollution. How are they doing it?

The central city of Da Nang seems to be the most recent locality which took a bold move in the fight, with penalties for loud karaoke and music ranging from VND100,000 (US$4.3) to VND1 million ($43).

Among the cases, those who make loud noise in residential areas and public places from 10:00 pm to 6:00 am the next morning will face a fine of VND100,000-300,000 (US$4.3-13).

Fines of VND500,000-1 million (US$22-43) will be considered for acts of gathering and causing public disorder.

Meanwhile, in the second week of March, Ho Chi Minh City decided to launch a sweeping campaign to eradicate violations of regulations on noise control in the city by the end of this year, with the first phase focusing on educating against noise pollution among the community while the second phase will impose strict administrative penalties on violators.

At the meeting announcing the decision on March 9, Vo Van Hoan, deputy chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, pointed out that noise pollution regulations have not been enforced well.

Amidst the issue being extensively discussed in local media recently, the city’s hotline 1022 has become an outlet where people in the southern metropolis can report loud karaoke parties and other types of noise pollution in their neighborhood.

Upon those reports, local authorities have taken action to deal with violators.

To report to 1022, which is the city’s portal launched in 2019 to receive and respond to reports from local residents and businesses, people can directly call the hotline 1022, or access the application named ‘Tong dai 1022,’ the website https://1022.tphcm.gov.vn or the Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/1022.tphcm.gov.vn. They can also send an email to [email protected]

The Mekong Delta province of An Giang is also taking the issue seriously.

In early March, An Giang’s authorities announced a ban on ‘mobile karaoke,’ a kind of entertainment in which people can easily sing karaoke via a bluetooth-connected microphone or speaker and a smartphone app, in the whole province as it causes a high risk of COVID-19 transmission.

The ban was also effective in karaoke parties at home, with those running rental mobile karaoke equipment business being subject to punishment, said Truong Ba Trang, deputy director of the provincial department of culture, sports, and tourism.

The official added that local residents were not banned from organizing parties with singing, however, noise should not exceed the regulated levels.

Authorities at commune and district levels were assigned to supervise the prohibition, Trang said.

“The chairperson of the People’s Committee in a commune will be the first to be held accountable when mobile karaoke takes place in their locality,” he emphasized.

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Two patients in the northern Hai Duong Province, who had been cured of COVID-19 after receiving treatment in local hospital, were found positive with the novel coronavirus once again on Tuesday.

The two relapse patients were found in Kim Lien Commune of Kim Thanh District in Hai Phong Province, confirmed Vu Ngoc Uong, chairman of Kim Lien Ward People’s Committee, in a discussion with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Thursday.

They were later identified as Hoang Van T. and Nguyen Thi H., who live in Co Phuc Bac Village.

According to Uong, T. was discharged from a local hospital on March 8 after showing signs of recovery from the disease.

After undergoing self-isolation at home as recommended by the authority, he received another positive test result on COVID-19 on Monday.

T. was sent to the Makeshift Hospital No. 2 of Hai Duong Province the same day.

Meanwhile, H. was also sent back to the hospital after her test result for COVID-19 came out positive on Tuesday, despite her just receiving discharge from COVID-19 treatment a day earlier.

In light of the positive test results, the surrounding of T. and H.’s house has been fumigated by local officials.

Kim Lien Commune has been considered an outbreak site in Hai Duong Province, Vietnam’s current COVID-19 epicenter.

After the latest wave of COVID-19 emerged in the country on January 27, Kim Lien Commune has recorded 28 cases of COVID-19, with two relapses among 11 recoveries.

Starting from March 12, Hai Duong Province has documented a total of ten COVID-19 relapses.

Vietnam has recorded 2,570 COVID-19 cases as of Friday morning, with 2,198 recoveries and 35 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

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Seven defendants were given suspended sentences after being held responsible for a wall collapse that killed seven construction workers in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta in 2019.

The People’s Court in Vinh Long Province on Thursday began the trial against Le Phuoc Thien, Truong Van Tuan, Nguyen Tran Bao Quoc, Dang Su Quan, Nguyen Thanh Tung, Tran Quan Tru, and Duong Thanh Phong.

Thien, Tuan, and Quoc, who were officials from the management board of industrial parks in Vinh Long Province, were sentenced to 1.5 to two years in prison for lack of responsibility that led to serious consequences.

They were, however, given suspended sentences with probation periods lasting for three to five years.

Quan, Tung, and Phong were directors and deputy directors of local construction companies, while Tru worked as an engineer.

The four were sentenced to between 1.5 and 2.5 years behind bars for violating construction regulations and causing serious consequences, but also received suspended sentences with probation periods lasting for three to five years.

All of the seven defendants were held responsible for the wall collapse that killed seven workers and injured another at the construction site of Bo Hsing Company’s factory at Hoa Phu Industrial Park in Vinh Long on March 15, 2019.

Following the accident, the State Authority for Construction Quality Inspection examined the scene and pointed out that the wall was designed with an unreasonable structure.

Its height and size did not fit the rest of the building, which ultimately affected its bearing capacity.

Multiple other errors were also found at the construction site, which were attributed to the fatal accident.

Investigators also discovered that the several officials from the management board of industrial parks in Vinh Long Province had granted a construction permit to the project without carrying necessary procedures.

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Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc arrived in Beijing on Thursday to start his participation in the second Belt and Road Forum.

The plane that carried the premier and a high-ranking delegation landed at Beijing Capital International Airport at 8:25 am (Vietnam time), the Vietnam Government Portal reported.

He was welcomed at the airport by Beijing leaders, the Chinese ambassador to Vietnam, representatives from China’s foreign ministry, the Vietnamese ambassador to China, and other Vietnamese embassy personnel.

His participation lasts from Thursday to Saturday.

The prime minister will meet with Chinese leaders, major Chinese companies, Vietnamese embassy personnel, and the Vietnamese community in China.

The Vietnamese premier will attend the forum’s opening on April 26 before joining President Xi Jinping and his spouse in a dinner on the evening of the same day.

On April 27, PM Phuc is scheduled to speak at a roundtable summit attended by leaders of 36 other nations and China.

China welcomes some 5,000 delegates from over 150 countries and 90 international organizations to the second Belt and Road Forum.

It is Beijing’s most important event of the year, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

In 2017, the first-ever Belt and Road Forum was held in Beijing, attracting 29 world leaders and more than 1,600 participants.

Vietnam and China signed a government-level memorandum of agreement on promoting connectivity between Vietnam’s “Two Corridors, One Economic Belt” framework and China’s Belt and Road Initiative during President Xi’s Vietnam visit in November 2017.

The two sides are discussing implementation of the memo.

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