Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister NguyenXuan Phuc on March 2 asked the Ministry of Health (MoH) to conduct widespreadCOVID-19 vaccination this week after the first 117,600 doses arrived in Vietnamon February 24.

Making the request at the Government’s monthlymeeting, the PM said vaccines must be quickly provided for the priority groupsstated in the Government’s resolution, firstly the poor, disadvantagedfamilies, and the ones vulnerable to coronavirus infection.

“We will try to give vaccine injections to asmany Vietnamese people as possible,” he stress, adding that the budget forvaccination will be ensured so that every people can be vaccinated, which is acritical necessity.

Talking about anti-COVID-19 efforts, especiallyin Hai Duong, Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, and part of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, henoted that thanks to numerous drastic directions by the Government and theNational Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, the situationhas basically been put under control.

Except for Hai Duong’s Kim Thanh district thatstill records several new cases, the used-to-be hotspots, particularly bigcities, have controlled the outbreak well, PM Phuc said, describing this asanother success of the fight against COVID-19 in Vietnam.

He also underlined the Government’s resolutionissued following the Politburo’s approval of the vaccine import intention,thanks to which, the vaccine has been imported into the country.

The Cabinet leader reiterated that vaccines andthe 5K principle, which is khau trang (facemask), khu khuan (disinfection),khoang cach (distance), khong tu tap (no gathering), and khai bao y te (healthdeclaration), are the measures of leading importance to effectively protectnearly 100 million Vietnamese people from COVID-19.

At the meeting, the PM said that at a recentmeeting to review the Government’s preparation for the Lunar New Year (Tet)holiday, the Politburo and the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat held thatthe Government’s preparation efforts showed a “very high” sense ofresponsibility towards the people, especially underprivileged groups, the poor,and those in disadvantaged and disaster-hit areas, so as to ensure a warm Tetfor all.

Pointing out encouraging signs in socio-economicdevelopment last month, PM Phuc highlighted a bumper crop with high prices inagriculture, along with high export and import growth in the first two months.

The two-month trade revenue was estimated at95.8 billion USD, up 24.5 percent year on year. It included 48.6 billion USD inexports and 47.3 billion USD in imports, rising 23.2 percent and 25.9 percent,respectively. That resulted in a trade surplus of some 1.3 billion USD.

According to the Ministry of Planning andInvestment, February’s consumer price index (CPI) went up 1.5 percent month onmonth, the strongest February CPI hike in eight years, and 1.56 percent againstDecember.

Despite the COVID-19 resurgence, 18,100 newbusinesses with registered capital of 334.8 trillion VND (nearly 14.5 billionUSD) were established in the first two months, up 4 percent and 52.2 percent,respectively.

Also at the meeting, Government membersdiscussed ways to realise the most important target of combating the pandemicand facilitating socio-economic development./.