Covid-19 situation:

Vietnam Nationwide

• Another shipment of 1.3 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine donated by the U.S. to Vietnam arrived in Hanoi on October 24, taking U.S’s total donations to 10.8 million doses.
• Companies and Manufacturers in southern Vietnam are scrambling to recruit employees, offering higher salaries and benefits, as they seek to return to normal production levels after months of lockdowns.
• Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his British counterpart Boris Johnson agreed that Vietnam and the UK will recognize each other’s ‘vaccine passport’ early during their online talks on October 27.
• Fully vaccinated foreign visitors to Vietnam from November 2021 will not be placed in Covid-19 quarantine, according to a new rule in the latest draft guidance of the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism that has been submitted to the Prime Minister for approval.

Ho Chi Minh City

• Functional forces removed all Covid-19 checkpoints at 12 entrances to Ho Chi Minh City on October 26.
• HCMC has vaccinated 39,756 children aged 12-17 with the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine as of October 28. The Covid-19 vaccination campaign for children aged 12-17 began on October 27, with those aged 16-17 being prioritized before moving downwards through different age groups.
• Ho Chi Minh City authorities have allowed dine-in services to resume from Thursday at half of their normal capacity and required them to close before 9:00 pm, and not to serve alcoholic drinks to customers.
• Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health and the Department of Education and Training are scheduled to organize an online training session on Covid-19 vaccination safety for children.

Hanoi

• Hanoi is making plans to inject two Covid-19 vaccine doses for adolescents aged from 12 to 17, starting 2022, according to Khong Minh Tuan, deputy director of the CDC Hanoi.
• Business, commercial activities and services in Hanoi would also be allowed to operate in the “new normal”, but large gatherings are still be discouraged in public.

Khanh Hoa (Nha Trang)

• High school students in Nha Trang City are expected to return to school on October 25 after a period learning online.
• From October 16, businesses ensuring safe adaptation to the Covid-19 epidemic are allowed to receive domestic tourists with Covid-19 green card or yellow card. Currently, tourism service businesses in the province are actively preparing to welcome tourists back.
• In September and October, Khanh Hoa Red Cross offered nearly 800 rescue life jackets to fishermen in coastal areas, supporting them to stay safe at sea and cling to traditional fishing grounds.

Da Nang

• Authorities in Da Nang on Wednesday decided to postpone the back-to-school day of all K-12 students to November 15, which was previously scheduled for November 1, over concerns about the complicated developments of Covid-19.
• Da Nang is carrying out many synchronous solutions to help businesses overcome their current difficulties in order to restore their production and business activities.