Ho Chi Minh City has made important contributions to COVID-19 prevention and control through changes in mindset, approach and decisive pilot steps that have made the city safe again, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said during a visit to the city on January 24.
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| Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visits Thi Nghe Protection Center for Orphans with Disabilities in Ho Chi Minh City on January 24.__Photo: VNA |
Visiting the municipal Department of Health on the occasion of the upcoming Tet (Lunar New Year), the government leader hailed the hard work of the city's health sector during the city's fight against the pandemic in the context of the highly contagious Delta variant and a shortage of vaccines and treatment drugs.
He said in such difficult conditions, many "unprecedented" policies to rein in the pandemic and support people had been built, promulgated, and implemented on an unprecedented scale.
He noted that Ho Chi Minh City was also the first locality to launch the vaccination drive, contributing to turning Vietnam from a country with a very low vaccination rate into one of the six countries with the highest vaccination coverage rate in the world.
To date, the city has reopened its doors and proactively implemented the policy of safe and flexible adaptation to and effective control of the pandemic.
In 2022, there would be certainly more difficulties and challenges than opportunities and advantages, as the pandemic was still likely to develop complicatedly with new variants, the PM said. He requested Ho Chi Minh City to remain vigilant to effectively implement the program on pandemic prevention and control for 2022-2023, and the socio-economic recovery and development plans.
He also urged quicker vaccination for all people, with the focus on children aged 12-17 so as to reopen schools after Tet, and asked the health sector to speed up digital transformation and improve the quality of health care.
On the same day, PM Chinh visited the Thi Nghe Protection Center for Orphans with Disabilities which is taking care of nearly 250 orphaned children with disabilities.
The care for orphaned children with disabilities must be both material and spiritual, he stressed, asking the center’s staff to take care of children with all their heart. -(VNS/VLLF)
