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The Lao Ministry of Health hopes to vaccinate 20 percent of its population against COVID-19 by the end of this year. - Illustrative image (Photo: Lao National Radio) Vientiane (VNA) - Some 150,000 medical workers in Laos will receive vaccination against COVID-19 in March and April, using 300,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine donated by China. According to Head of the Department of Hygiene and Health Promotion under Lao Ministry of Health Phonepaseuth Ounaphom, this vaccination programme is part of the COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control plan that the local health authorities are working hard to implement. People in high-risk groups between the ages of 18 and 60 will also be given priority in this plan, including medical personnel, the elderly, people with chronic illnesses, and migrant workers. The Lao Ministry of Health hopes to vaccinate 20 percent of its population against COVID-19 by the end of this year. The rate is expected to increase to 50 percent of the population by 2022 and 70 percent by 2023. Development partners of Laos have pledged to provide vaccines for the Southeast Asian country in accordance with its demand. The Lao authorities also consider buying more vaccines made in Germany, Japan and other countries after these vaccines are approved by regulatory authorities. The country also expects to get COVID-19 vaccine supplied via the global procurement mechanism of COVAX initiated by the World Health Organization (WHO). On March 2, Cambodia received a batch of 324,000 COVID-19 doses produced by India as part of the COVAX initiative. The country began its COVID-19 vaccination campaign on February 10 after receiving the first batch of vaccine from China National Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd (Sinopharm)./. VNA …

The information technology (IT) and telecoms sector has emerged as a bright spot amid the COVID-19 pandemic as companies have quickly optimised opportunities to move ahead and develop sustainably. The deployment of 5G service is hoped to accelerate the building of e-government. (Photo: insidetelecom.com) According to the BIDV Securities Company (BSC), the pandemic has sped up digital transformation and investment in technologies at many businesses, while facilitating the sustainable development of tech enterprises that have pioneered providing solutions, platforms, services, and products for digital transformation. The rising move towards digital transformation is expected to help such firms as FPT and CMC benefit from software exports. FPT’s growth remained in the double digits last year despite the pandemic, with turnover at 29.83 trillion VND (1.29 billion USD) and pre-tax profit 5.26 trillion VND, increases of 7.6 percent and 12.8 percent, respectively. Net profit rose 13.1 percent to 4.22 trillion VND. Of note, digital transformation contributed 3.21 trillion VND to turnover, up 31 percent against 2019. In the tech sphere in particular, its turnover was some 13.9 trillion VND, up 23 percent year-on-year. Customer numbers also grew nearly 19 percent, while the number of projects worth millions of US dollars rose nearly 29 percent. BSC said it hopes domestic enterprises with “Made in Vietnam” products will be prioritised in the Government’s digital transformation project. Tech bidding packages, it said, are expected to be stepped up this year thanks to public and annual investments in technologies. Packages for 11 road routes will total 4 trillion VND, focusing on services such as smart transport, administration, management, and automated toll collection. Fixed broadband and 5G services will also drive growth among businesses operating in the telecoms sector. The Ministry of Information and Communications said the sector …

Laos: 150,000 medical workers to get COVID-19 vaccination

IT, telecoms a bright spot amid COVID-19