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Vietnamese people will have access to COVID-19 vaccination free of charge in the long term like other types of vaccine included in the country’s Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI), according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control. Vietnam has made urgent efforts to obtain COVID-19 vaccines as soon as possible, but the number of vaccine shots distributed to the country in the coming time is still limited, the committee said during a meeting on Tuesday. The Ministry of Health has listed 11 groups of individuals who will be the first to receive COVID-19 vaccination next month. When supply is enough, all Vietnamese people will have access to free COVID-19 inoculation in the long run like other types of vaccine included in the EPI. A small number of vaccine doses will be sold to people who can afford them. The EPI started in Vietnam in 1981, initiated by the Ministry of Health with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The initial goal of the program was to provide free immunization to children under one year old to protect them from six common and highly fatal infectious diseases. By 2010, the program had included 11 types of vaccine which protect people against tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, hepatitis B, measles, Japanese encephalitis, cholera, typhoid, and pneumonia/meningitis caused by Hib. According to Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long, Vietnam will need approximately 150 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine for all citizens. The Southeast Asian country will receive 30 million free doses supplied by COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) in 2021. Vietnam has also purchased 30 million more doses from AstraZeneca, which will be delivered this year. The first batch containing 117,600 AstraZeneca vaccine shots arrived at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday morning. On February 26, the second …

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Dead Japanese man in Hanoi diagnosed with new Covid-19 variant The Saigon Times A medical worker performs Covid-19 tests. A Japanese man who died in Hanoi City on February 13 was identified to be infected with a new variant of Covid-19 that has never been reported in Vietnam before – PHOTO: MOH HCMC – A Japanese man who died in Hanoi City on February 13 was identified to be infected with a new variant of Covid-19 that has never been reported in Vietnam before. Speaking at an online meeting on February 24, Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said that the new Covid-19 strain has become the fifth variant to be reported in Vietnam. Associate Professor Dr. Tran Dac Phu, senior advisor at the Center for Emergency Response to Public Health Events of Vietnam, said that the spread of the new strain is not too rapid. The Covid-19 strain appears mainly in South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and India, Phu added. Earlier, Vietnam had reported three variants of Covid-19, which originated from Britain, South Africa and Rwanda, and another variant appearing in Danang City in July and August last year. The Japanese patient, tagged as the 2,229th Covid-19 case, was an expert at Mitsui Vietnam. The 54-year-old man entered Vietnam through the HCMC-based Tan Son Nhat International Airport on January 17 and was sent to a concentrated quarantine center in Tan Binh District’s Ward 2. He tested negative for the disease on January 17 and 31. On February 1, the man flew to Hanoi City and stayed at a hotel in Tay Ho District. He was found dead in his hotel room at 7.00 p.m. on February 13. His positive test result came out on February 14. Two of 586 people linked to the patient tested positive for Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. …

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A 27-year-old Vietnamese comic series based loosely on the popular 'Voltron' animated series of the 1980s is getting republished in Vietnam, stirring up excitement among a generation of readers while prompting worries about copyright infringement. Dung si Hesman (Hero Hesman) was a 160-volume comic series by ‘adaption arist’ Hung Lan. It was published for the first time in Vietnam in 1992. The sci-fi adventure superhero comic follows the protagonist, Hesman the robot, as he battles evil forces in the galaxy in a fictional future set in the 23rd century. It was a huge hit among Vietnamese children and youth at a time when entertainment options were scarce in the absence of computer games and the Internet, with its circulation reaching 160,000 copies per volume at times. Many Vietnamese millennials recall queuing up and fighting with other kids at local bookstores to rent the newest volumes of Dung si Hesman when they first got out. Collecting spin-off items were also popular with young Hesman fans at the time. A full collection of 160 'Dung si Hesman' volumes is seen in this photo by Erik Le. The nostalgic comic series is getting republished this summer by the Van Hoc (Literature) Publishing House and distributed by Hanoibooks, using scanned images of the original comic, the publisher and distributor said at a launch event on Sunday. The first five volumes of the reprinted Dung si Hesman have already been available at bookstores nationwide since August. The 2019 version will also run for 160 volumes like the original series, with an expected circulation of 2,000 copies per volume. Its artist, Hung Lan, expressed his hope that the 2019 republication would appeal not only to nostalgic millennials but also to Vietnam’s Gen Z readers. Artist Hung Lan (C) and fans pose for a photo at the launch event of the reprinted ‘Dung si Hesman’ comic. Photo: Mi Ly / Tuoi Tre News of the reprint has caused fresh concerns …

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