15th National Assembly expected to have 500 seats There will be a total of 500 seats in the 15th National Assembly at both central and local levels, according to a new resolution adopted by the National Assembly Standing Committee. Minister promises greatest efforts to ensure safety in COVID-19 vaccinations The Ministry of Health will mobilise all resources to carry out COVID-19 vaccinations, the largest-ever vaccination programme, so as to ensure absolute safety for people, Minister Nguyen Thanh Long has said. Long chaired a teleconference which was organised on March 6 and connected with 700 places across Vietnam to launch the vaccination plan and provide related training for medical workers nationwide in the use and storage of the vaccine, as well as the treatment of post-injection complications. He informed the teleconference that the vaccination programme will start on March 8, although the first batch of vaccine arrived in Vietnam on February 24. “As the vaccine is new, we need to carry out thoroughly,” Long said, adding that Vietnam has to obtain an accreditation certificate from the producer and reassess the safety index of the batch of vaccine. Because of the limited number of vaccine, the ministry cannot allocate for all 63 provinces and cities, but for 13 pandemic-hit localities, with priority given to Hai Duong province – Vietnam’s largest outbreak at present, he added. The minister asked localities which have yet to receive the vaccine to prepare and make training programmes as the ministry will allocate vaccines to them when more are transported to Vietnam in March. COVAC and AstraZeneca have agreed to provide 30 million doses each for Vietnam this year, the minister said, adding the ministry asked the producers to hand over the vaccines to Vietnam before September and is negotiating with Pfizer to buy an additional 30 million doses from this producer. The ministry has assigned three deputy ministers to be …
Appraisal project
Vaccine passports – the future?
Vaccine passports – the future?, illustration photo, source: internet At the end of December, thousands of Europeans received the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine after the company received authorisation in the EU. Since then, other countries such as the US, Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, India, and several Asian countries, including Vietnam, have also started to receive or order vaccines to prepare for mass vaccination programmes. This has awakened optimism about an end to the pandemic and the idea of a vaccine passport. A heated discussion Some parts of the world, such as the Seychelles, Cyprus, and Romania, have begun to remove quarantine requirements for visitors who have been vaccinated. In early January, Denmark also announced that it would issue vaccine passports to citizens within the next three to four months. To get digital vaccine passports, Danish citizens will have to declare their medical and vaccination status on a government-issued app. Owners of such passports will be able to return to Denmark without quarantine and receive access to bars, restaurants, and hotels. Iceland became the first European nation to issue vaccine certificates in late January. While Greece also announced it will unveil a digital vaccination certificate for those who have received two doses of the vaccine, Israel recently announced that a so-called Green Badge will allow vaccinated people to go to restaurants, attend public events, and travel freely. Other countries that are currently issuing or waiting for vaccine passports include the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, and Sweden. Despite being supported by several countries and seen as a necessary condition for freedom of movement, vaccine passports have received mixed reactions in many places. The UK, the first in the world to vaccinate people against COVID-19, had previously denied plans for vaccine passports to allow people to travel abroad, but …
PV Power completes 89.5 percent of revenue target
In February, PV Power plans to have an estimated power output of more than 1.46 billion kWh and expects revenue of 2.3 trillion VND. (Photo: tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - PetroVietnam Power Corporation (PV Power) earned 2.5 trillion VND (108 million USD) in revenue in the first month of this year. This fulfilled 89.5 percent of the month's target due to a reduction in revenue from Nhon Trach 1 and 2 power plants. Regarding the investment project of Nhon Trach 3 and Nhon Trach 4, PV Power said the management board would continue to review the engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) bidding documents and site clearance documents of contractors. PV Power would also continue to supplement capital, negotiate gas sale and purchase contracts and power purchase agreements. In February, PV Power plans to have an estimated power output of more than 1.46 billion kWh and expects revenue of 2.3 trillion VND. By the end of 2020, PV Power reached 29.7 trillion VND in revenue and 2.2 trillion VND in net profit, down 16 percent and 13 percent respectively compared to 2019. Compared to the target set for 2020, it fulfilled 84 percent of revenue target and exceeded profit target by 22 percent./. VNA …
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