Vietnam begins COVID-19 vaccination on March 8 Vietnam launches its COVID-19 inoculation drive on March 8 morning, administering the AstraZeneca vaccine to medical workers in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and northern Hai Duong province – the country’s biggest pandemic hotspot at present. The vaccination is conducted at the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi, the HCM City Hospital for Tropical Diseases and two medical centres in Hai Duong. As many as 100 staff members of the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases are expected to receive the shots in the morning of March 8. The hospital is allocated 450 doses among the first batch of 117,600 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine the country has received. In Hai Duong, 50 medical workers at Hai Duong city’s medical centre, and 30 others at Kim Thanh district’s medical centre will be the first in the province to be injected. The Ministry of Health has allocated the vaccine to 13 localities, along with the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Public Security and 21 hospitals during the first phase. Among the localities, all having reported COVID-19 cases since the latest wave of outbreaks since January 27, the Hanoi Centre for Disease Control (CDC) is given 8,000 doses, Hai Duong CDC 32,000, and HCM City CDC 8,000. Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Defence and the Ministry of Public Security each receive 30,000 doses. At a meeting on March 6, Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long stressed the need to ensure equality in vaccine access as suggested by the WHO, UNICEF and COVAC. The localities excluded in the first phase should continue to prepare for the inoculation, with training programmes, he said, adding that they would receive the vaccine after the next shipment arrives in Vietnam in March. The ministry will roll out the vaccination in all COVID-19 treatment hospitals, prioritising those involved in frontline work, and those who participate in the pandemic combat in the community like …
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First-instance trial opens for Phu Tho ethanol plant case
Former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) Dinh La Thang at the first-instance trial in Hanoi on March 8. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The People’s Court of Hanoi on March 8 opened a first-instance trial of the case of violating regulations on investment in construction works, causing serious consequences at the Phu Tho ethanol plant in the northern province of the same name. There are 12 defendants in the case, including former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) Dinh La Thang; former Chairman of the Board of Directors and former General Director of the PetroVietnam Construction JSC (PVC) Trinh Xuan Thanh; and several former executives of PetroVietnam, PVC and the PetroVietnam PetroChemicals and Biofuel JSC (PVB). Trinh Xuan Thanh has been charged with “violating regulations on investment in construction works, causing serious consequences” under Article 224, Clause 3 of the Penal Code 2015, and “abusing position and power while performing duties” under Article 356, Clause 3. Thang, meanwhile, has been accused of “violating regulations on investment in construction works, causing serious consequences.” A total of 31 lawyers will represent the defendants during the 10-day trial. According to the indictment, Thang signed a resolution to approve the investment in the Phu Tho ethanol project in October 2007. With Thanh’s support, PVC/Alfa Laval/Delta-T joint contractors, who had no previous experience in carrying out ethanol projects, were assigned to be in charge of the project. As a result, the project was continuously behind schedule and stopped in March 2013 with no construction items done. Wrongdoings of the defendants were said to cause a loss of more than 543 billion VND (23.49 million USD)./. VNA …
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New Zealand supports Vietnamese female workers
Female workers in informal sectors in the cities of Da Nang and Hue will receive training support and funding to build back their livelihoods after the economic shock created by COVID-19 outbreaks in their cities. Participants at the event. Photo by the New Zealand Embassy The New Zealand Embassy and ActionAid Vietnam today launched a partnership to "Leave No One Behind in the Struggle Against COVID–19". The project will assist female workers in informal sectors of the economy in Da Nang and Hue. Leaders of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DOFA) of Thua Thien Hue Province, the Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (DOLISA) of Da Nang City and the Centre for Community Development and Social Work - CODES participated the launch. The New Zealand Embassy will provide NZD 50,000 (approx. VND 790,000,000) to the project, which aims to reach more than 350 women workers in informal employment as street vendors, junk collectors, or housemaids, over the coming 3 months. Underscoring the importance of this project in the larger programme of support by New Zealand to Vietnam, New Zealand Chargé d'Affaires Joseph Mayhew said, “This is a practical initiative to help ease the economic impacts of COVID-19 and strengthen the resilience of more than 350 women workers, and their families, in Da Nang and Hue’s informal sectors. I believe that supporting women workers in sectors that are hardest hit by the pandemic is a vital component of robust, inclusive, and equitable recovery.” The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted Vietnam's tourism industry, with Da Nang and Thua Thien Hue, the two major international tourism hubs particularly affected. The project includes training on household economic literacy and management, women’s rights and child nutrition. The financial support can be used to purchase food, living essentials or small livelihood options. According to ActionAid Vietnam’s recent research, more than 90% of tourism sector workers lost …
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