At the event (Photo: VNA)Representativesfrom the Ministries of Health, National Defence, and Public Security told ameeting of the committee in Hanoi on January 21 that the repatriation ofoverseas Vietnamese should be based on assessment of domestic quarantinecapacity, especially given the appearance of new coronavirus variants.
Vietnameseabroad should be encouraged to follow COVID-19 prevention and controlregulations in their host countries, they said, stressing the need to ensureabsolute safety on repatriation flights.
Regardingvaccine research, production, and distribution, the Ministry of Health willactively partner with other ministries and agencies to complete relevantmechanisms and push ahead with vaccine trials.
The Ministriesof Education and Training, Industry and Trade, and Transport were asked toreport on COVID-19 prevention and control at schools, markets, supermarkets,commercial centres, and bus stations, and on public transport.
As the Tet(Lunar New Year) holiday is approaching, greater efforts are needed to inspect thework in localities nationwide, the committee said.
It alsorequested localities seriously observe guidelines set by the Ministry of Healthat quarantine centres, saying any violations will be handled strictly.
According toHoang Minh Duc, deputy head of the General Department of Preventive Medicine atthe Ministry of Health, as of 5pm on January 20, Vietnam had recorded 1,544COVID-19 cases, of which 884 were imported.
Vaccineproducers are making every effort to accelerate research towards clinicaltrials, he said, noting that two vaccines - one developed by the NanogenPharmaceutical Biotechnology JSC (NANOGEN) and the other by the Institute ofVaccines and Medical Biologicals (IVAC) - have been put into testing.
Vietnam is oneof 40 countries and territories around the world to have begun human trials ofCOVID-19 vaccines./.
VNA
