Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on March 2 asked the Ministry of Health (MoH) to conduct widespread COVID-19 vaccination this week after the first 117,600 doses arrived in Viet Nam on February 24.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc addresses the Government meeting on March 2 (Photo: VNA)

Making the request at the Government’s monthly meeting, the PM said vaccines must be quickly provided for the priority groups stated in the Government’s resolution, firstly the poor, disadvantaged families, and the ones vulnerable to coronavirus infection.

“We will try to give vaccine injections to as many Vietnamese people as possible,” he stress, adding that the budget for vaccination will be ensured so that every people can be vaccinated, which is a critical necessity.

Talking about anti-COVID-19 efforts, especially in Hai Duong, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, and part of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, he noted that thanks to numerous drastic directions by the Government and the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, the situation has basically been put under control.

Except for Hai Duong’s Kim Thanh district that still records several new cases, the used-to-be hotspots, particularly big cities, have controlled the outbreak well, PM Phuc said, describing this as another success of the fight against COVID-19 in Viet Nam.

He also underlined the Government’s resolution issued following the Politburo’s approval of the vaccine import intention, thanks to which, the vaccine has been imported into the country.

The Cabinet leader reiterated that vaccines and the 5K principle, which is khau trang (facemask), khu khuan (disinfection), khoang cach (distance), khong tu tap (no gathering), and khai bao y te (health declaration), are the measures of leading importance to effectively protect nearly 100 million Vietnamese people from COVID-19.

At the meeting, the PM said that at a recent meeting to review the Government’s preparation for the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday, the Politburo and the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat held that the Government’s preparation efforts showed a “very high” sense of responsibility towards the people, especially underprivileged groups, the poor, and those in disadvantaged and disaster-hit areas, so as to ensure a warm Tet for all.

Pointing out encouraging signs in socio-economic development last month, PM Phuc highlighted a bumper crop with high prices in agriculture, along with high export and import growth in the first two months.

The two-month trade revenue was estimated at 95.8 billion USD, up 24.5 percent year on year. It included 48.6 billion USD in exports and 47.3 billion USD in imports, rising 23.2 percent and 25.9 percent, respectively. That resulted in a trade surplus of some 1.3 billion USD.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, February’s consumer price index (CPI) went up 1.5 percent month on month, the strongest February CPI hike in eight years, and 1.56 percent against December.

Despite the COVID-19 resurgence, 18,100 new businesses with registered capital of 334.8 trillion VND (nearly 14.5 billion USD) were established in the first two months, up 4 percent and 52.2 percent, respectively.

Also at the meeting, Government members discussed ways to realise the most important target of combating the pandemic and facilitating socio-economic development.

Source: VNA