Vietnam reports record daily height of new Covid-19 cases

Vietnam reported 454,197 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, the record daily height, the Ministry of Health said.

The country’s daily average over the past seven days was 159,273. The fatalities was 81 per day.

There are 5.8 million Covid-19 cases in Vietnam's fourth wave of outbreaks, from May 1 to date, of these 3 million were declared to recover. Hanoi has posted the highest number of infections, nearly 780,000.

At a recent meeting on Covid-19 preventtion and control, Deputy Minister of Health Do Xuan Tuyen said Vietnam is one of six countries with the largest Covid-19 vaccination coverage,

Official data shows that the country has administered 199 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine. 100% of people from 18 years old received the first dose, and the figures for the second and third dose are 98.7% and 38.4%, respectively.

Those from 12-17 years old, who had the first and second dose, respectively account for 99% and 93.8%.

Tuyen said Vietnam’s inoculation at a high speed over the last few months helped enable dynamic and safe adaptation to Covid-19 and effective control of the disease.

The vaccine especially helped reduce the severity level of infections, hospitalizations and fatalities, even when it comes to the Omicron variant.

Nguyen Thanh Long, Minister of Health, said at the meeting: “Thanks to the high national vaccination coverage and good care for the most vulnerable, the mortality rate deeply dived, from 0.9% on February 1 to 0.1% on March 3. Vaccination, therefore, must remain the top priority."

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh called the national vaccination campaign “a success”. He said the country is considering administering the fourth dose.

Last Thursday, he said Vietnam will learn from international experience to deploy suitable and efficient anti-pandemic measures and will move to “normalization” with Covid-19, “treating it as an endemic disease”.