HCM City (VNA) – HoChi Minh City plans to complete the vaccination of people at risk from COVID-19by January 20 while pressing on with rapid testing for this group.

On January 12, the municipalDepartment of Health ordered district-level steering committees for COVID-19prevention and control to continue rapid testing for the risk group fromJanuary 17 to 22 and encourage locals to conduct self-testing and reportresults to communal-level health stations.

They were also told toswiftly access and care for those with a positive rapid test result andcomplete the vaccination of people in the risk group by January 20.

Earlier, HCM City launched acampaign aimed at protecting people of the risk group, which consists of thoseaged over 65 or having underlying health conditions, so as to minimise therates of infection, patients in critical condition, and fatalities. The initialphase was carried out from December 7 to 31, 2021.

The city made a list of639,972 people of the risk group, 25,642 or 4 percent whom haven’t been inoculated.Meanwhile, 5,437 people or 0.8 percent have been infected with the coronavirus.

During the campaign,unvaccinated people have been persuaded to receive the jabs at home orhealthcare establishments while COVID-19 patients received antiviral drugs for treatment.This has helped reduce patients in critical condition and deaths.

A meeting of the HealthDepartment on January 12 pointed out that there are more than 300,000 patients alreadyrecovering from COVID-19 in HCM City, and they still need healthcare.

Deputy Director of thedepartment Nguyen Anh Dung cited data from the Gia Dinh People’s Hospital asshowing that from December 1, 2021 to January 10 this year, 1,021 peoplerecovering from the disease went there to receive check-up, with most themshowing tiredness, breath shortness, and depression.

Post-COVID-19 conditions arereported in not only serious or elderly patients but also in younger ones aged30 - 40 or having mild symptoms, he noted, adding that these conditions affect notonly their health but also their work performance and socio-economic aspects.

Facing that fact, the HealthDepartment has built a healthcare strategy for those with post-COVID-19conditions that includes a three-level model. The first level comprisesgrassroots medical stations caring for people in mild condition while thesecond are district-level hospitals in charge of the ones in moderate condition,and the third are specialised and general hospitals for those in seriouscondition./.