Over the recent weeks, a strong relapse of COVID-19 outbreaks have been recorded due to the dangerous Delta variant, with the epicenter moving to Southeast Asia.

Vietnam is also experiencing the most serious wave so far. Since April 27, more than 200,000 cases have been detected and hundreds of thousands quarantined, forcing thousands of domestic and FDI firms to suspend or scale down their production and business. It is worrisome that the number of daily cases has amounted to a 4-digit level since July 5, mostly in Ho Chi Minh City and its nearby localities, thus causing a very heavy pressure on their health systems and preventive infrastructures.

On the basis of other countries’ experience and in face of the danger of the ongoing serious fourth wave in the south, the Vietnamese Government is maintaining the spirit of “fighting the pandemic like fighting the enemy”, taking concerted and suitable social distancing measures in combination with accelerating the vaccination toward the goal of early herd immunity and halting the infection spread.

Besides intensifying the social distancing measures, the Vietnamese Government has also been paying heed to and mobilizing to the maximum the resources to ensure the living conditions and health care for the whole population and foreign residents, with the spirit that no one is left behind. By August 9, more than 140,000 patients had been given the all-clear and discharged from hospitals. Vietnam has also been successfully treating foreign patients in critical health conditions, with a British man suffering from the “cytokine storm” syndrome being a case in point. British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab has expressed his gratitude to Vietnam for the wholehearted care given to the case and others while they were in Vietnam. Many foreign people living and working in Vietnam have been taking an active part in voluntary activities to help fight the pandemic in various localities.

Vietnam is accelerating a vaccination campaign which has yielded encouraging results. By August 12, it has injected over 15 million doses with more than 14 million people getting their first shots. 

The Vietnamese Government is striving to push up moves aimed at ensuring the supply of vaccines through purchases and production technology transfer from the United States, Japan, Russia and looking for cooperation with developed countries like South Korea, Britain. Vietnam is also speeding up the research and production of vaccines with domestic technology, and now in the third phase of testing its homemade NanoCovax with a view of completing it right within August.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has affirmed that Vietnam’s pandemic fight is taking the right track, and given the top priority to the work, stressing only when the COVID-19 is put under control can social and economic development be achieved, and that efforts must be made to absolutely prevent a health, social and economic crisis. Besides accelerating the “vaccine diplomacy” for the supply of vaccines, localities must immediately implement mechanisms and issue special certificates and registrations for the production of medicines and medical equipment as well as chemicals under the Government’s Resolution on the implementation of urgent pandemic fight measures, the leader highlighted.

Dr. Kidong Park, Chief Representative of the World Health Organization in Vietnam, has affirmed that Vietnam is taking a right track in dealing with the outbreaks in the context that the pandemic is proceeding in a complex way throughout the country, especially in southern localities. The fight is the responsibility of not only the health sector, and it requires the collaboration of all the ministries, sectors and localities, as well as the participation of the whole population. The official stressed that right at the first stage of the pandemic, Vietnam built a national response plan with various scenarios. It also identified the needs so as to mobilize resources rationally, allowing the Government to take initiative steps in building its strategy. The Vietnamese Government has also been working actively with international organizations to call for cooperation and support, including ensuring the supply of vaccines.

ERIC DZIUBAN, Country Director, Centers for Disease Control, Vietnam, U.S. Embassy, said the 5K system is a thing Vietnam has been doing really well over the past year. The country has also been doing very well the popularization of the message to the people, helping them really understand the benefits of the application of those basic public health measures. It is important that the 5K measures help slow down the spread of the pandemic, facilitating the healthcare system in dealing with all the cases and meeting all the existing needs.

Dr. JEREMY LIM, an expert of public health at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, the National University of Singapore, said Vietnam has been doing very well in coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been doing all it can, including public health, testing, tracing, contact limiting, etc. The success of the fight against the ongoing wave of the pandemic depends on the time Vietnam can have to successfully realize the national vaccination program. Over the past nearly two years, Vietnam has won the fight by social distancing measures. For the time to come, in order to win a real victory, the country needs to complete the goal of vaccinating its population.

The COVID-19 pandemic is forecast to continue in a complex way, and each country needs to take a suitable response strategy to weather it. The Vietnamese Government is effectively applying the right track measures against the pandemic with a consensus from the whole society.