Covid-19 situation:

Vietnam Nationwide

• Vietnam plans to ease coronavirus curbs and allow businesses to restart production after Sep 30 to prop up an economy which has suffered under lengthy lockdowns, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said. Foreign investors in Vietnam have warned the government that its strict lockdown rules in the south has forced some companies to move production to the other countries.
• Vietnam’s State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc visited Pfizer’s office in New York on Sep 24, and Pfizer promised to supply 30 million doses to Vietnam as contracted in the last quarter of 2021. President Phuc was participating in the general debate of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
• The European Union (EU) delegation to Vietnam tweeted on Sep 28 that Italy will give an extra 1,225,440 Covid-19 vaccine doses to Vietnam, bringing its total aid to more than 2.8 million doses.
• Vietnam’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs received 2.6 million doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine donated by the German government on Sep 27. Together with the COVAX shipment of 852,480 AstraZeneca vaccine shots on September 16, Germany’s donation to Vietnam now totals 3.45 million doses of vaccine.
• The ministry of Health received 1,317,500 AstraZeneca vaccine doses from the VNVC on Sep 27, as part of the 30-million-dose contract between VNVC and the manufacturer. To date, Vietnam has received more than 54 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine from different sources, including COVAX Facility, contract purchases, and donations.
• VABIOTECH, one of Vietnam’s leading pharmaceutical companies, on Sep 24 announced the successful production of a batch of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.
• Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health to promptly discuss the mutual recognition of Covid-19 vaccination certifications with competent authorities of ASEAN countries, EU member states, the U.S., China, Japan, and others.

Ho Chi Minh City

• HCMC to resume most activities from Oct.1, Except for some sectors considered as posing high Covid-19 infection risk, most public and private production and service facilities in HCMC are allowed to reopen.
• On Sep 24, HCMC received over 666,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses from the Ministry of Health to provide the second shots to citizens.
• HCMC will allow people who have received at least one vaccine shot or recovered from Covid-19 to travel after Sep 30, but not to leave the city on their own. Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City are expected to remove all Covid-19 checkpoints and barricades along local streets and alleys by Sep 30, and will only keep the checkpoints at the city’s gateways.
• Several hospitals in HCMC have resumed their normal functions as the city has obtained initial positive achievements in pushing back the Covid-19 pandemic, and cases and deaths show signs of slowing down.

Hanoi

• Authorities in Hanoi have allowed residents to play sports and participate in physical activities in public from Sep 28, as long as these activities do not lead to gatherings of more than 10 people.
• Nguyen Van Phong, Deputy Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee, suggested resuming domestic flights in a safe manner, basing on the levels of Covid-19 risks, promoting economic recovery for localities, and removing difficulties for businesses. He noted that Hanoi would enforce Covid-19 regulations in a stricter manner to prevent the spread of the pandemic.

Khanh Hoa (Nha Trang)

• Over 800,000 people aged 18 and above in Khanh Hoa have been vaccinated. It estimated that 100 percent of the province’s adult population would have got at least one dose of Covid vaccine by the end of September.
• From Oct 1, Khanh Hoa province will pilot the use of green cards and yellow cards of Bluezone application in parallel with documents such as certificates of Covid-19 vaccination, test results. negative test for Covid-19… Agencies, businesses, production and business establishments, closing the door to prevent and control the Covid-19 epidemic must create QR codes of locations.
• Khanh Hoa authorities has approved a plan to welcome back fully vaccinated foreign tourists under a trial vaccine passport program starting this November.

Da Nang

• The administration of Da Nang City in central Vietnam on Sep 25 has decided to allow people to leave the city and provide travel passes for those in needs.
• Da Nang will remove unnecessary Covid-19 checkpoints to help residents avoid travel hurdles, Luong Nguyen Minh Triet, deputy secretary of the municipal Party Committee, said on Sep 26.
• The government has given permission for reopening the U.K. visa application center in Da Nang City on Sep 27, over a month after it closed. Earlier the British visa application centers in Hanoi and HCMC were also allowed to resume limited operations.
• Da Nang’s Tho Quang fishing port and wholesale seafood market, the largest fishing port in central Vietnam, has been reopened from Sep 29 with strict regulations on Covid-19 prevention applied and a cap on the number of people at the venue.