Vietnam has yet planned to get younger kids aged under five vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH).

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has ordered faster administration of the third and fourth doses of COVID-19 vaccine as part of measures against the unpredictable pandemic situation, especially when the sub-variant BA.5 has appeared in Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh City is expected to start offering fourth doses of COVID-19 vaccines to residents next week, according to Nguyen Hoai Nam, deputy director of the Municipal Department of Health.

Nitin Kapoor, the chairman of AstraZeneca Vietnam, talks about the country's successful vaccination program, tourism resumption, and why a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose is needed.

Vietnam on Sunday crossed the mark of 200 million COVID-19 vaccines administered, just over a year since the ‘historic inoculation campaign’ was launched on March 8 last year.

The foreign investors’ positive sentiment towards the business environment in Vietnam is largely thanks to the country’s high vaccination rate.

The proposals by MOH on requiring foreign arrivals not to leave accommodations for the first 72 hours in Vietnam have discouraged travel firms. They say the overly strict requirement is contrary to the Government’s policy on tourism reopening.

60.6 per cent of parents with children aged 5-11 years said they agree to let their children have COVID-19 vaccine shots, according to a survey by the health ministry.

Vietnam has risen a total of 28 places to reach 90th position in the latest edition of Nikkei's COVID-19 Recovery Index which was issued in early February.

Vietnam will organise a rapid vaccination campaign this spring running from January 29 to February 28, said Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at a meeting of the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control on January 27.

The Ministry of Health has proposed the Government purchase 21.9 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine for children aged between 5 and 11.

Health minister Nguyen Thanh Long has urged localities to expedite the vaccination of people aged 12 and over, and complete administration of the primary series of vaccines, before the end of January.

Ho Chi Minh City plans to complete the vaccination of people at risk from COVID-19 by January 20 while pressing on with rapid testing for this group.

Vietnam has become one of the six countries with highest COVID-19 vaccination coverage in the world, Standing Deputy PM Pham Binh Minh told a teleconference between the Government and localities on January 5.

More than 1.5 million booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines had been administered to people 18 and older in 40 cities and provinces in Vietnam by December 29.

Vietnam became the 53rd country in the world achieving the goal of covering basic doses of COVID-19 vaccine for 70 percent of its population, according to covidvax.live, a website that updates the vaccination speed worldwide every day.

Vietnam is expecting to get nearly 90% of people 18 and older fully vaccinated by the end of 2021.

The Ministry of Heath has requested that all localities nationwide complete the injection of the third round of COVID-19 vaccinations for adults by the first quarter of 2022.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has requested making quicker progress in vaccinations in his Conclusion at a recent teleconference with localities on COVID-19 prevention and control.